The Jewish State

By: Theodor   Herzl

Herzl, awriter and a statesman, founded national Zionism and the World ZionistOrganization, which elevated the Jewish problem to an international politicalsubject of primary importance. It was the Dreyfus case that awakened in himnational Jewish feeling and brought him to the conclusion that the Jewishproblem could only be solved by political means. The concept of emergence fromthe Diaspora and return to Zion found expression in his book "DerJudenstaat" or "The Jewish State", which was written in 1896.

TheJewish State - a. Preface

The ideawhich I develop in this pamphlet is an age-old one: the establishment of aJewish State.

The worldresounds with outcries against the Jews, and this is what awakens the dormantidea.

I aminventing nothing: let the reader bear this in mind particularly and at everypoint of my exposition. I am inventing neither the situation of the Jews, whichhas become a matter of history, nor the means to remedy it. The materialcomponents of the edifice I am sketching are in existence and within easyreach; any one can convince himself of that. If, therefore, anyone should wishto designate this attempt at a solution of the Jewish Question with a singleword, it should not be called a "fantasy" but, conceivably, a"scheme."

At theoutset I must guard my plan from being treated as a Utopia. Actually, in doingso I am only keeping superficial observers from possibly committing a sillyblunder. After all, it would be no disgrace to have written a philanthropicUtopia. I could achieve an easier literary succes~and, as it were, avoid allresponsibility-if I presented my plan in the form of a novel for readers whowant to be entertained. But that would be the kind of amiable Utopia that hasbeen produced in such abundance before and after Sir Thomas More. And I thinkthe situation of the Jews in various countries is bad enough to render suchintroductory dalliance superfluous.

To bringout the difference between my construction and a Utopia I shall choose aninteresting book of recent years, Freiland [Freeland] by Dr. TheodorHertzka. This is an ingenious bit of fantasy, devised by a thoroughly modernmind schooled in the principles of political economy, and as remote from lifeas the equatorial mountain on which this dream state is located. Freiland isa complicated piece of machinery with many cogs and wheels which even mesh; butthere is nothing to indicate to me that it can be set in motion. And even if Iwere to see Freeland associations come into being, I should regard the wholething as a joke.

Thepresent plan, however, contains the utilization of a driving force that existsin reality. In all modesty I am only indicating the cogs and wheels of themachine that is to be built, referring to my limitations and trusting thatthere will be mechanics more competent than I for the actual construction.

Whatmatters is the driving force. What is that force? The distress of the Jews.

Who daresdeny that this force exists? We shall deal with it in the chapter on the causesof anti-Semitism.

Anotherknown quantity is the steam power which is generated by boiling water in atea-kettle and which then lifts the kettle lid. Such a tea-kettle phenomenonare the Zionist experiments and many other organized efforts "to combatanti-Semitism."

Now I saythat this force, if properly used, is powerful enough to run a great machineand transport men and merchandise. The machine may have whatever form onepleases.

I amprofoundly convinced that I am right; I do not know whether I shall be provedright in my lifetime. The men who inaugurate this movement will hardly live tosee its glorious conclusion. But the very inauguration will bring a lofty prideand the happiness of inner freedom into their lives.

To protectmy plan from the suspicion that it is a Utopia, I shall use picturesque detailsin my description but sparingly. As it is, I suspect that unthinking scofferswill attempt to invalidate the whole idea by distorting my outline. A generallyintelligent Jew to whom I presented the matter said that details of the future presentedas reality were the hallmark of a Utopia. This is a fallacy. Every minister offinance uses future figures in his budgetary estimate - not just figuresderived from the average of previous years and the past revenues of otherstates, but also figures for which there is no precedent for example, when anew tax is instituted. Only those who have never looked at a budget will beunaware of this. But will this cause anyone to regard a draft of a fiscal lawas Utopian, even if he knows that it will never be possible to stick to theestimate very closely?

But Iexpect even more of my readers. I ask the educated readers whom I am addressingto rethink and revise many an old notion. And I am particularly imposing uponthe Jewish leaders those who have actively striven for a solution of the JewishQuestion, to the extent of asking them to look upon their previous efforts asmisguided and ineffectual.

Inpresenting my idea I face one danger. If I describe all those things of thefuture with restraint, it will seem as though even I do not believe that theyare possible. If, on the other hand, I predict their realization unreservedly,everything may look like a figment of my imagination.

ThereforeI say clearly and emphatically: I do believe that my scheme can be put intopractice, even though I do not presume to have found the final form the ideawill take. The Jewish State is something the world needs, and consequently itwill come into being.

If onlysome individual pursued this idea, it would be a rather foolish thing; but ifmany Jews agree to work on it simultaneously, it is entirely reasonable, andcarrying it out will present no major obstacles. The idea depends only on thenumber of its adherents. Perhaps our ambitious young people, to whom every roadis even now blocked and for whom the Jewish State reveals bright prospects ofhonor, freedom, arid happiness, will see to it that this idea is disseminated.

With thepublication of this pamphlet I consider my task as completed. I shall havesomething further to say only if attacks from estimable opponents force me todo so, or if it i. a matter of refuting unforeseen objections and eliminatingerrors.

Is what Iam saying not yet so? Am I ahead of my time? Are the sufferings of the Jewsstill not great enough? We shall see.

So itdepends on the Jews themselves whether this political pamphlet is, for the timebeing, only a political novel. If the present generation is still too obtuse,another, better, more advanced generation will come along. Those Jews who wanta state of their own will have one, and deservedly so.

I.Introduction

Men ofaffairs who are in the mainstream of life often have an astonishingly slightknowledge of economics. This is the only explanation for the fact that evenJews faithfully parrot the catchword of the anti-Semites: we are supposed to beliving off the "host nations," and if we had no "hostnation" surrounding us, we should have to starve. This is one of thepoints at which the undermining of our self-respect through unjust accusationsmanifests itself. What is the truth about this "host nation" theory?To the extent that it is not based on old, narrow, physiocratic views, itreflects the childish misconception that in the life of commodities the samethings keep going around. We need not wake from many years of slumbering, likeRip van Winkle, to realize that the world is changed by the incessantproduction of new commodities. In our time, which is made wonderful bytechnical progress, even the most stupid of men with his dim vision sees newcommodities appearing all around him. The spirit of enterprise has createdthem.

Withoutthe spirit of enterprise, labor remains stationary and antiquated; typical ofit is the labor of the farmer, who still is at the point where his forebears werea thousand years ago. All our material welfare has been brought about byentrepreneurs. One is almost ashamed of writing down such a banal remark. Evenif all of us were entrepreneurs - which is what fatuously exaggerated accountsclaim we are - we should not need any "host nation." We are notdependent upon the circulation of the same commodities, because we produce newones.

We nowhave slave labor of unparalleled productivity whose appearance in the civilizedworld meant fatal competition for handicrafts; these slaves are our machines.It is true that work. men are needed to set these machines in motion; but forsuch requirements we have manpower enough - too much, in fact. Only those whoare unfamiliar with the condition 0 the Jews in many parts of Eastern Europewill dare assert that the Jews are unfit or unwilling to perform manual labor.

But inthis pamphlet I intend to offer no defense of the Jews. It would be pointless.Everything that reason and even sentiment can say on this subject has alreadybeen said. But it is not enough to find arguments that reach the head and theheart; one's audience must first of all be capable of grasping them, forotherwise one will be preaching in the wilderness. But if the audience hasadvanced to such a high estate then the entire sermon is superfluous. I believein the ascent of man to ever higher ethical levels, but in my estimation thisrise is a desperately slow one. If we wanted to wait until even average peoplebecame as charitably inclined as Lessing was when he wrote his Nathan theWise) we might have to wait beyond our lifetime, beyond the days of ourchildren, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. But here the spirit of theage comes to our aid from a different angle.

Thiscentury has brought us a splendid renaissance through its technicalachievements; but this fabulous progress has not yet been utilized for thebenefit of humanity. The distances of the surface of the earth have beenovercome, and yet we are beset by problems of congestion. Swiftly and safelyour great steamships now rush us over hitherto unknown areas. We build saferailroads in a mountain world which people once scaled on foot and withtrepidation. Events occurring in countries which were not even discovered whenEurope confined the Jews in ghettos are known to us within an hour. This is whythe distress of the Jews is an anachronism - and not because there was the Ageof Enlightenment a hundred years ago, something that actually existed only forthe noblest spirits.

To mymind, the electric light was certainly not invented so that a few snobs mightilluminate their sumptuous rooms, but, rather, that we might solve the problemsof mankind by its glow. One of these problems, and not the least important, isthe Jewish Question. In solving it we are working not only for ourselves, butfor many other struggling and overburdened human beings as well.

The JewishQuestion exists. It would be foolish to deny it. It is an atavistic bit ofmedievalism which the civilized nations have not been able to shake off to thisday, try as they might. They did show a magnanimous desire to do so when theyemancipated us. The Jewish Question exists wherever Jews live in appreciablenumbers. Where it does not exist, it is brought in together with Jewish immigrants.Naturally we move where we are not persecuted; our appearance then gives riseto persecution. This is a fact and is bound to remain a fact everywhere, evenin highly developed countries-France is a case in point-as long as the JewishQuestion is not solved politically. The unfortunate Jews are now importinganti-Semitism into England; they have already introduced it into America.

I believeI understand anti-Semitism, a highly complex movement. I view it from thestandpoint of a Jew, but without hatred or fear. I think I can discern in itthe elements of vulgar sport, of common economic rivalry, of inheritedprejudice, of religious intolerance-but also of a supposed need forself-defense. To my mind, the Jewish Question is neither a social nor areligious one, even though it may assume these and other guises. It is anational question, and to solve it we must first of all establish it as aninternational political problem which will have to be settled by the civilizednations of the world in council.

We are apeople, one people.

Everywherewe have sincerely endeavored to merge with the national communities surroundingus and to preserve only the faith of our fathers. We are not permitted to doso. In vain are we loyal patriots, in some places even extravagantly so; invain do we make the same sacrifices of life and property as our fellowcitizens; in vain do we strive to enhance the fame of our native countries inthe arts and sciences, or their wealth through trade and commerce. In ournative lands where, after all, we too have lived for centuries, we are decriedas aliens, often by people whose ancestors had not yet come to the country whenour fathers' sighs were already heard in the land. The majority can decide whothe strangers are; like everything else in relations between peoples, this is amatter of power. I do not waive any part of our prescriptive right when I makethis statement as an individual, one with no particular authority. In the worldas it is now constituted and will probably continue to be for an indefiniteperiod, might precedes right. So it avails us nothing to be good patriotseverywhere, as were the Huguenots, who were forced to emigrate If only we wereleft in peace…

But Ithink we shall not be left in peace.

Oppressionand persecution cannot exterminate us. No nation in history has endured suchstruggles and sufferings as we have. Invariably Jew-baiting has induced onlyour weaklings to become apostates. The strong Jews defiantly return to theirown when persecution breaks out. This was readily apparent in the periodimmediately following the emancipation of the Jews. Those Jews who were on ahigher intellectual and material level completely lost any sense ofidentification with their people. Given extended political well-being, we assimilateeverywhere; I think there is nothing discreditable about that. Thus anystatesman who wishes to have a Jewish strain added to his nation must see to itthat we remain politically secure. But not even a Bismarck could achieve that.

For in thehearts and minds of the people there are still deep-seated prejudices againstus. Anyone who wants proof of this need only listen to the people where theyspeak frankly and simply: fairy-tales and proverbs are anti-Semitic. Peopleeverywhere are big children that can be educated, to be sure; but even in themost favorable circumstances this education would take such an enormous amountof time that, as I said before, we could far sooner help ourselves by othermeans.

Assimilation,by which I mean not only externals in attire, certain ways of life, cus, andspeech, but also conformity in feeling and manner-the assimilation of Jewscould be accomplished everywhere only by intermarriage. But this would have tobe regarded as a necessity by the majority; it would certainly not suffice todeclare that intermarriage was legally admissible. The Hungarian Liberals, whohave recently legalized intermarriage, labor under a remarkable misconception.The doctrinaire character of this legislation was well illustrated by one of thefirst cases: a baptized Jew married a Jewess. The fight for the presentmarriage laws has greatly exacerbated the conflicts between Gentiles and Jewsin Hungary, thus impeding rather than promoting the mingling of the races.Those who really desire the disappearance of the Jews through interbreeding canenvisage only one possible way of bringing this about. First the Jews wouldhave to gain so much economic power that the old social prejudices against themwould be overcome. An example is provided by the aristocracy, among which thegreatest proportion of intermarriage occurs. The old nobility has itselfrefurbished with Jewish money, and in the process Jewish families are absorbed.But what form would this phenomenon take in the middle classes, where, the Jewsbeing a bourgeois people, the Jewish Question is mainly concentrated? There theprerequisite acquisition of power would be tantamount to the economicsovereignty of the Jews, something which they are already falsely accused of.And if the present power of the Jews elicits such cries of indignation anddistress signals from the anti-Semites, what outbursts would be produced by afurther increase in this power! Such a first step toward absorption cannot betaken, for it would mean the subjugation of the majority by a minority that wasbut recently despised, a minority that would, not possess any military oradministrative power. I therefore think that the absorption of the Jews even byway of their prosperity is unlikely. In countries which are now anti-Semitic myviews will be shared. In other countries, where the Jews are doing well atpresent, my coreligionists will presumably dispute my statements mostviolently. They will not believe me until they are once again beset byJew-baiting. And the longer anti-Semitism lies in abeyance, the more fiercelyit is bound to erupt. The infiltration of immigrating Jews attracted byapparent security and the rising class status of autochthonous Jews will thencombine powerfully to bring about a revolution. Nothing is plainer than thisrational conclusion.

However,the fact that 1 draw this conclusion ingenuously and guided only by the truthwill probably net me the opposition and enmity of those Jews who are incomfortable circumstances. Insofar as it is only a matter of private interestsheld by people who feel endangered because they are narrow-minded or cowardly,they might be passed over with contemptuous laughter, for the cause of the poorand downtrodden is more important. But from the outset I wish to keep any erroneousideas from arising, particularly the notion that Jewish property might beharmed if this plan ever materialized. Therefore I shall give a detailedexplanation of everything that concerns property rights. If, on the other hand,my plan never becomes anything but a piece of literature, things will remain asthey are anyway.

A moreserious objection would be that I am aiding the anti-Semites when I say that weare a people, one people, that I am impeding the assimilation of the Jews whereit is being attempted and retroactively endangering it where it has alreadytaken place - to the extent that a solitary writer like myself can impede orendanger anything.

Thisobjection will be brought forward in France especially. I expect it to beraised in other places as well, but I will answer only the French Jewsbeforehand, because they furnish the most striking example.

Howevergreatly I may esteem personality-the strong individual personality instatesmen, inventors, artists, philosophers, and military leaders, as well asthe collective personality of a historic group of human beings which we call"nation"-however much I may esteem personality, I still do not mournits decline. Whoever can, will, and must perish, let him perish. But thedistinctive nationality of the Jews cannot, will not, and need not perish. Itcannot, because external foes hold it together. That it does not want to perishit has proved through two thousand years of enormous suffering. It need notperish; this is what I am trying to demonstrate in this pamphlet, followingmany other Jews who did not abandon hope. Whole branches of Jewry may witherand fall off, but the tree remains alive.

If any orall of French Jewry protest against this plan, saying that they are already"assimilated," my answer is simple: The whole thing is none of theirbusiness. They are Israelitic Frenchmen; splendid! But this is a private affairof the Jews.

Actually,the state-forming movement which I am here proposing would not harm IsraeliticFrenchmen any more than it would harm those who have "assimilated" inother countries. On the contrary, it would benefit them-yes, benefit them! Forthey would no longer be disturbed in their "chromatic function," asDarwin put it. They could go ahead and assimilate, because present-dayanti-Semitism would have been checked for all time. They would certainly becredited with being assimilated to the depths of their souls if they remainedin their present homes even after the new Jewish State, with its superiorinstitutions, had become a reality.

Thedeparture of the ethnically faithful Jews would be even more to the advantageof the "assimilated" than of the Gentile citizens, for they would berid of the disquieting, unpredictable, unavoidable competition of the Jewishproletariat which is driven from place to place, from country to country, bypolitical pressure and economic distress. This drifting proletariat wouldbecome stabilized. At present a number of Gentile citizens, calledanti-Semites, are able to oppose the immigration of foreign Jews. Jewishcitizens cannot do this, although they are affected far more severely, for theyare the first to feel the competition of individuals who engage in similarbranches of industry and, furthermore, import anti-Semitism or aggravate the localvariety. This is a secret sorrow of assimilated Jews which finds expression in"philanthropic" undertakings. They organize emigration societies forimmigrating Jews. This phenomenon contains a paradox which might be comical ifit did not involve suffering human beings. Some of these charitableinstitutions exist not for but against the persecuted Jews. The poorest are tobe sent away as fast and as far as possible. And thus, upon closer examinationmany an apparent friend of the Jews turns out to be only an anti-Semite ofJewish origin dressed up as a philanthropist.

But eventhe attempts at colonization made by truly well-intentioned men have beenunsuccessful so far, interesting experiments though they were. I do not believethat one or another person did it only as a pastime, that they made Jews wanderthe way one makes horses race. It is too grave and too sad a matter for that.These experiments were interesting in that they constituted on a small scalethe practical forerunners of the idea of a Jewish State. They were even useful,for the mistakes made there can serve as lessons when the idea is put intopractice on a large scale. To be sure, these attempts have also done harm. Theleast of the evils, to my mind, is the transplantation of anti-Semitism to newareas-the inevitable consequence of such an artificial infiltration. Far worseis the fact that the unsatisfactory results have made the Jews themselves doubtthe fitness of their own human material. However, the following simple argumentwill serve to dispel such doubts among reasoning persons: What is not practicalor feasible on a small scale need not be so on a large scale. A smallenterprise may result in a loss under the same conditions that make a large oneshow a profit. A rivulet cannot be naeven by canoes; the river into which itflows carries stately iron vessels.

No man ispowerful or wealthy enough to transport a people from one domicile to another.Only an idea can achieve that. The idea of a State probably has such a power.All through the night of their history the Jews have not ceased to dream thisroyal dream: "Next year in Jerusalem!" is our age-old watchword. Nowit is a matter of showing that the dream can be transformed into an idea thatis as clear as day.

To achievethis our minds must first be turned into a tabula rasa [clean slate],purged of many old, outworn, confused, shortsighted notions. Dullards, forexample, might imagine that our migration must proceed from civilized regionsto the desert. Not so! The migration will take place in the mainstream ofcivilization. We shall not revert to a lower stage, but rise to a higher one.We shall not move into mud huts but into more beautiful, more modern houseswhich we shall build and own in safety. We shall not lose our acquiredpossessions; we shall put them to use. We shall surrender our rights, but inreturn for better ones. We shall not give up 6ur cherished customs; we shallfind them again. We shall not leave our old homes until the new ones are ready.Only those will depart who are certain of improving their lot thereby: firstthose who are desperate, then the poor, after them the well-to-do, and finallythe wealthy. Those who go first will have raised themselves to a higher levelby the time the members of the higher class follow. Thus the migration will bean ascent in class at the same time.

Thedeparture of the Jews will not leave in its wake any economic disturbances, anycrises or persecutions; instead, a period of prosperity will begin in thecountries the Jews have left. There will be an internal migration of theGentile citizens into the positions the Jews have abandoned. The outflow willbe a gradual one, without any upheaval, and its very beginning will mean theend of anti-Semitism. The Jews will leave as honored friends, and if some ofthem return later, they will be given the same kind of reception and treatmentat the hands of civilized nations as the citizens of other foreign states. Norwill their exodus be a flight, but it will be an orderly process under thecontrol of public opinion. Not only should the movement be inaugurated inabsolute accordance with the law, but it cannot be carried out at all withoutthe friendly cooperation of the interested governments, which will derivematerial benefits from it.

Ensuringthe integrity of the idea and its vigorous execution will require guaranteeswhich can be supplied only by so-called "moral" or"juridical" persons. I will distinguish between these twodesignations, which are frequently confused in legal terminology. As a"moral person," to deal with all rights outside the field of privateproperty, I propose to found the "Society of Jews." Next to it therewill be the "juridical person" of the "Jewish Company," acommercial body.

Anyindividual who even considered undertaking such an enormous enterprise might bea swindler or a madman. The integrity of the "moral person" will beguaranteed by the character of its members. The adequate capacity of the"juridical person" will be demonstrated by its capital funds.

The aboveprefatory remarks were intended as a hasty defense against the first spate ofobjections which the very words "Jewish State" are bound to evoke.From this point on we shall proceed more slowly, refuting other objections andelaborating on some points that have already been outlined, although we shalltry to avoid a ponderous tone in the interests of a lively pamphlet. Short,aphoristic chapters will probably serve this purpose best.

If I wishto replace an old building with a new one, I must demolish before I construct.So I shall observe this sensible sequence. In the first, or general, sectionconcepts must be clarified, stifling old misconceptions swept away,politico-economic premises established, and the plan developed.

In thespecific part, which is divided into three main sections, the execution must bedescribed. These three main sections are: The Jewish Company, Local Groups, andSociety of Jews. Actually, the Society is to be created first and the Companylast; but in this exposition the reverse order is preferable, because thegreatest doubts will be voiced as to the financial feasibility, and thesedoubts must be dispelled at the outset.

In theConclusion I shall have to do final battle with the remaining objections thatmay be expected. I hope that my Jewish readers will follow me patiently to theend. Some will raise their objections in another order than that chosen fortheir refutation. But whoever finds his doubts reasonably dispelled, let himembrace the cause.

Inspeaking here in terms of reason, I am well aware that reason alone is notsufficient. Old prisoners do not willingly leave a prison. We shall see whetherthe new blood that we need is already available-the young people who sweep theold ones along, carry them forward on strong arms, and translate reason intoenthusiasm.

TheJewish State - II. General Part

THE JEWISH QUESTION

No onewill deny the plight of the Jews. In all countries where they live inappreciable numbers, Jews are persecuted to a greater or lesser degree. Theequal rights that the law may call for have almost everywhere been nullified inpractice, thereby disadvantaging the Jews. Even moderately high positions inthe army and in public and private institutions are not open to them. Attemptsare made to drive them out of business: "Don't buy from Jews!"

Attacks inparliaments, at meetings, in the press, from pulpits, in the street, ontrips-such as exclusion from certain hotels-and even in places of recreationincrease from day to day. The forms of persecution vary according to countryand social circle. In Russia, extortionary taxes are levied on Jewish villages;in Romania a few persons are beaten to death; in Germany the Jews get anoccasional whipping; in Austria the anti-Semites terrorize all of public life;in Algeria there are itinerant hate-mongers; in Paris the so-called highersociety walls itself off and excludes the Jews from its clubs. There arecountless gradations. But no attempt at a doleful enumeration of all Jewishgrievances shall be made here. We will not dwell on particular cases, howeverpainful they may be.

It is notmy intention to arouse sympathy on our behalf. That sort of thing is dubious,futile, and discreditable. I shall content myself with asking the Jews this: Isit not true that in countries where we live in appreciable numbers thesituation of Jewish lawyers, doctors, technicians, teachers, and employees ofall kinds is becoming ever more intolerable? Is it not true that our entireJewish middle class is seriously endangered? Is it not true that the passionsof the mob are being inflamed against our wealthy? Is it not true that our poorpeople suffer far more than any other proletariat?

I believethere is pressure everywhere. In the economic upper strata of the Jews itcauses discomfort; in our middle classes, a profound, vague anxiety; in thelower classes, utter despair.

The factof the matter is that it amounts to the same thing everywhere, and this can beexpressed by the classic Berlin cry "Juden raus!" ("Outwith the Jews!")

I shallnow put the Jewish Question in its most succinct form: Do we already have to"get out," and if so, where to?

Or, can westill remain, and if so, how long?

Let usfirst settle the question of remaining. Can we hope for better days, possessour souls in patience, and wait devoutly for the princes and peoples of thisearth to be more mercifully disposed toward us? I say that we cannot expect thecurrent to shift. And why not? Even if we were as close to the hearts of theprinces as their other subjects, they could not protect us. By showing the Jewstoo much favor, they would only endorse anti-Semitism. And "too much"here means less than what any ordinary citizen or ethnic group is entitled to.

Everysingle one of the nations in whose midst Jews live are shamefacedly or brazenlyanti-Semitic.

The commonpeople have not, and cannot have, any historical sense. They do not know thatthe sins of the Middle Ages are now being visited on the nations of Europe. Weare what the ghettos have made us. There is no doubt that we have attainedpre-eminence in finance because we were driven into this field in the MiddleAges. The same process is now being repeated. Again they are pushing us intofinancial transactions, now called the stock exchange, by blocking to us allother ways of making a living. But once we are on the stock exchange, this willrender us contemptible all over again. And yet we constantly produce averageminds who find no outlet and thus constitute as much of a social menace as ourgrowing wealth. Mi the educated Jews without means now embrace Socialism. Thuswe are bound to become the battleground in the struggle between the classes,because we stand at the most exposed positions in both the capitalist and theSocialist camps.

PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS AT A SOLUTION

Theartificial methods hitherto employed to remedy the plight of the Jews have beeneither too petty, like the various attempts at colonization, or wronglyconceived, like the attempts to turn the Jews into peasants in their presenthomelands.

What isaccomplished by transporting a few thousand Jews to another region? Either theyprosper, and then anti-Semitism arises along with their prosperity, or theyfounder immediately. We have already discussed the previous attempts to divertimpoverished Jews to other countries. Such a diversion is clearly inadequateand pointless, if not actually injudicious. This only postpones, drags out, andperhaps even impedes the solution.

But anyonewho wishes to turn Jews into peasants labors under a strange misconception. Forthe peasant is a historical category, and this can best be seen by his attire,which in most countries is centuries-old, and by his implements, which areexactly the same as those used in ancestral times. His plow is still as it wasthen; he sows his seed from his apron, mows with the ancient scythe, andthreshes with the flail. But we know that now there are machines for all thesechores. The agrarian question, too, is merely a question of machinery. Americamust conquer Europe, just as the large estates swallow up the small ones. Thepeasant, therefore, is a type that is slated for extinction. If the peasant isartificially preserved, this is due only to the political interests that he issupposed to serve. Any attempt to create new peasants on the old pattern is animpossible and foolish undertaking. No one is rich or powerful enough to turnback the clock of civilization by force. The mere preservation of obsoletecultural conditions is an enormous task, one for which all the political resourcesof even an autocratic state are barely sufficient.

Willanyone, then, expect Jews, who are intelligent people, to agree to becomepeasants of the old type? That would be like saying to a Jew: "Here's acrossbow for you; now go off to war!" What?! With a crossbow, when theothers have small arms and Krupp cannon? The Jews whom people are trying torusticate are perfectly right if, under the circumstances, they do not budge. Acrossbow is a beautiful weapon which puts me in an elegiac mood when I have thetime. But it belongs in a museum.

There are,to be sure, regions where desperate Jews even go out into the fields, or atleast would like to. And it turns out that these places - such as the enclaveof Hesse in Germany and some provinces in Russia - are the very hotbeds ofanti-Semitism.

For thedo-gooders who send the Jews to till the soil forget a very important personwho has a great deal to say about it: the peasant. He, too, is absolutely inthe right. The tax on the land, the possibility of crop failure, the pressureof large proprietors who produce more cheaply, and in particular thecompetition from America make life difficult enough for him. Besides, theduties on grain cannot go on mounting sky-high. After all, factory workerscannot be allowed to starve either; in fact, since their political influence isrising, they must be treated with increasing consideration.

All thesedifficulties are well known; therefore I mention them only in passing. I merelymeant to indicate the futility of most past attempts, deliberately made andmany of them well-intentioned, to solve the Jewish Question. Neither adiversion of the stream nor an artificial depression of the intellectual levelof our proletariat can be of avail. The panacea of assimilation has already beendealt with.

Anti-Semitismcannot be tackled by these methods. It cannot be eradicated until its causesare eradicated. But are these eradicable?

CAUSES OF ANTI-SEMITISM

We are nowno longer concerned with the emotional causes, old prejudices, and evidences ofnarrow-mindedness, but with the political and economic causes. Present-dayanti-Semitism must not be confused with the religious hatred of former times,although this hatred still has a religious tinge in certain countries. The maincurrent of the anti-Jewish movement is a differentone today. In the chiefanti-Semitic countries it is a consequence of the emancipation of the Jews.When the civilized nations awoke to the inhumanity of discriminatorylegislation and emancipated us, this emancipation came too late. Laws could nolonger emancipate us in our old homes. Strangely enough, we had developed intoa bourgeois people in the ghetto, and we emerged as fearful rivals to themiddle class. Thus emancipation suddenly thrust us into the circle of the bourgeoisie,and there we have had a dual pressure to sustain-from within and from without.The Gentile bourgeoisie would probably not be averse to tossing us to Socialismas a sacrifice, although that would not do much good.

Nevertheless,the equal rights of the Jews before the law can-not be withdrawn where theyexist-not only because such a withdrawal would run counter to modernsensibilities, but also because it would immediately drive all Jews, rich andpoor alike, into the ranks of the revolutionary parties. Nothing effectual canreally be done against us. In olden times they took away our Jewels. How arethey going to seize hold of movable property today? It resides in printeddocuments locked up somewhere in the world, possibly in Christian coffers. Ofcourse, it is possible to get at the shares and preferred stocks of railways,banks, and industrial concerns of all kinds by taxation, and where there is aprogressive income tax all movable property can be laid hold of. But all suchefforts cannot be directed at Jews alone, and wherever the attempt might bemade regardless, the immediate result would be a severe economic crisis whichwould by no means be confined to the Jews as those first affected. The veryimpossibility of getting at the Jews only makes the hatred greater and morebitter. Among the populace, anti-Semitism increases day by day and hour byhour, and it is bound to increase further, because the causes continue to existand cannot be removed.

Its catisaremota [remote cause] is the loss of our assimilability in the Middle Ages;the causa proxima [immediate cause], our overproduction of averageintellects who have no outlet beneath them and no chance to rise-that is, nowholesome outlet in either direction. On the lower level we are proletarianizedand become revolutionaries, the non-commissioned officers of all revolutionaryparties, and at the same time our terrifying financial power grows on the upperlevel.

EFFECTS OF ANTI-SEMITISM

Thepressure exerted on us does not make us any better. We are no different fromother people. It is quite true that we do not love our enemies. But only he whois capable of conquering himself is entitled to reproach us with that.Naturally, the pressure inspires in us hostility against our oppressors-and ourhostility in turn increases the pressure. It is impossible to escape thisvicious circle.

"No!"some soft-hearted idealists will say. "No! It is possible - throughthe innate goodness of man which needs to be brought out."

Is itreally necessary for me to demonstrate what sentimental drivel this is? Anyonewho wanted to base an improvement of conditions upon the goodness of all menwould certainly be writing a Utopia!

I havealready referred to our "assimilation." I am not saying for a momentthat I desire it. Our national character is too famous in history and, despiteall degradations, too noble to make its decline desirable. But we might be ableto merge with the peoples surrounding us everywhere without leaving a trace ifwe were only left in peace for two generations. But they will not leave us inpeace. After brief periods of toleration their hostility toward us erupts anewtime and again. There seems to be something provoking about our prosperity,because for many centuries the world has been accustomed to regarding us as themost contemptible among the poor. Yet out of ignorance or narrow-mindednesspeople fail to observe that our prosperity weakens us as Jews and eliminatesour peculiarities. Only pressure attaches us to our ancient roots again; only thehatred surrounding us turns us into strangers once more.

Thus,whether we desire it or not, we are and shall remain a historical group ofunmistakable solidarity.

We are apeople - our enemies have made us one without our volition, as has alwayshappened in history. Affliction makes us stand by one another, and at suchtimes we suddenly discover our strength. Yes, we are strong enough to form astate, and a model state at that. We have all the human and material resourcesrequired for it.

This wouldactually be the proper place to speak of our "human material," to usea somewhat crude expression. But first we must be familiar with the mainfeatures of the plan which, after all, is the focal point of everything.

THE PLAN

The entireplan is in its essence perfectly simple, as it must be if it is to becomprehensible to all.

Letsovereignty be granted us over a portion of the earth's surface that issufficient for our rightful national requirements; We shall take care ofeverything else ourselves.

The creationof a new sovereign state is neither ludicrous nor impossible. After all, wehave seen it happen in our own day-among nations which are not largelymiddle-class, as we are, but poorer, uneducated, and therefore weaker thanourselves. The governments of the countries scourged by anti-Semitism will bekeenly interested in securing a sovereign Status for us.

Two greatagencies will be created for this task, which is simple in design butcomplicated in execution: the Society of Jews and the Jewish Company.

What theSociety of Jews has prepared scientifically and politically, the Jewish Companywill put into effect.

The JewishCompany will handle the liquidation of all business interests of departing Jewsand will organize trade and commerce in the new country.

As hasalready been stated, the departure of the Jews must not be imagined as a suddenone. It will be gradual, taking decades. The poorest will go first and make theland arable. In accordance with a predetermined plan they will build roads,bridges, and railways, set up telegraph installations, regulate rivers, andprovide themselves with homesteads. Their labor will bring trade, trade willcreate markets, the markets will attract new settlers-for everyone will comevoluntarily, at his own expense and his own risk. The labor that we put intothe soil will enhance the value of the land. The Jews will soon realize that anew and permanent field has opened up for their spirit of enterprise which hashitherto been met with hatred and contempt.

Whoeverwants to found a state today must not go about it in the manner that a thousandyears ago would have been the only possible one. It is foolish to revert to oldlevels of civilization, which is what some Zionists would like to do. If, forexample, we were required to clear a country of wild beasts, we would nottackle it in the fashion of fifth-century Europeans. We would not set outindividually with spears and lances to hunt bears, but would organize a large,jolly hunting party, drive the beasts together, and throw a melinite bomb intotheir midst.

If we wishto erect buildings, we shall not put up ungainly piles at the shore of somelake; we shall build the way it is done now. We shall build more boldly andmore magnificently than has ever been done before; for we now have means thatare unprecedented in history.

Theemigrants standing lowest in the economic scale will gradually be followed bythose of the next grade. Those who are now in desperate straits will go first.They will be led by the average intellects whom we overproduce and who arepersecuted everywhere.

Thispamphlet is intended to open a general discussion on the question of Jewishmigration. This does not mean, however, that it is to be put to a vote, forthat would ruin the cause from the outset. Let anyone who does not want to goalong stay behind. The opposition of individuals is immaterial.

Let allthose who wish to join us line up behind our banner and fight for it with word,pen, and deed.

The Jewswho espouse our idea of a state will rally the Society of Jews. Thereby theywill give it the authority to speak in the name of the Jews and negotiate withgovernments in their behalf. To put it in the terminology of international law,the Society will be recognized as a state-creating power, and this in itselfwill mean the formation of the State.

If thePowers show themselves willing to grant the Jewish people sovereignty over aneutral territory, the Society will negotiate for the land to be taken. Tworegions are possibilities: Palestine and Argentina. Noteworthy experiments incolonization have been made in both places, although they have been based onthe mistaken principle of a gradual infiltration of Jews. Infiltration isalways bound to end badly. For there invariably comes a moment when the government,under pressure of the native population-which feels itself threatened-bars anyfurther influx of Jews. Consequently, emigration will be pointless unless it isbased upon our guaranteed sovereignty.

TheSociety of Jews will negotiate with the present authorities of the country -under the protectorate of the European Powers, if the matter makes sense tothem. We shall be able to offer the present authorities enormous advantage -assume part of their national debt, build new thoroughfares (which we shouldrequire ourselves), and do many other things. But the very creation of theJewish State will be beneficial to the neighboring countries, because thecultivation of an area enhances the value of its surroundings, on a large as ona small scale.

PALESTINE OR ARGENTINA?

IsPalestine or Argentina preferable? The Society will take whatever it is givenand whatever is favored by the public opinion of the Jewish people. The Societywill determine both points.

Argentineis a country with some of the greatest natural resources in the world; itextends over a vast area, is sparsely populated, and has a temperate climate.It would be very much to the interest of the Republic of Argentina to cede aportion of its territory to us. The present infiltration of Jews, to be sure,has produced some ill feeling there; it would be necessary to enlightenArgentina on the intrinsic difference of the new Jewish immigration.

Palestineis our unforgettable historic homeland. The very name would be a powerfullymoving rallying cry for our people. If His Majesty the Sultan were to give usPalestine, we could in return pledge ourselves to regulate the entire financesof Turkey. For Europe we could constitute part of the wall of defense againstAsia; we would serve as an outpost of civilization against barbarism. As aneutral state we would remain in contact with all of Europe, which would haveto guarantee our existence. Some form of extraterritoriality underinternational law could be found for the Holy Places of Christendom. We wouldform a guard of honor around the Holy Places, answering for the fulfillment ofthis duty with our existence. This guard of honor would be the symbol of thesolution of the Jewish Question after what were for us eighteen centuries ofaffliction.

DEMAND, INSTRUMENTALITY, TRADE

In thelast chapter but one I said: "The Jewish Company will organize trade andcommerce in the new country."

I think Iought to insert a few comments on this point. A plan like the one beingpresented here is fundamentally endangered if the "realists" come outagainst it. Realists are, as a rule, only men in the rut of routine who areincapable of transcending a narrow circle of antiquated notions. But theiradverse opinion does carry some weight and can do great harm to a new project-atleast until the innovation is strong enough to push the "realists"and their moldy notions aside.

When therailroad era dawned over Europe, there were "realists" who declaredthat the construction of certain lines was foolish "because not even themail coaches have enough passengers there." In those days people did notrealize the truth, which seems like one even a child can appreciate: thattravelers do not produce railways, but, rather, railways producetravelers-provided, of course, that a latent demand may be assumed.

In a classwith the doubts of those pre-railroad "realists" may be placed theinability of some to imagine what trade and commerce ought to be like among thenew arrivals in a country which has yet to be won and cultivated. A "realist,"then, will express himself somewhat as follows:

"Grantedthat the present situation of the Jews in many places is untenable and is boundto get worse and worse; granted that this gives rise to a desire to emigrate;granted even that the Jews do emigrate to the new country-how will they make aliving there and how much will they earn? What are they going to live on? Afterall, the commerce of many people cannot be artificially organizedovernight."

To this Ireply: There is no intention of organizing trade artificially, least of allfrom one day to the next. But even if trade cannot be organized, it cancertainly be stimulated. How? Through the instrumentality created in responseto a demand. The demand must be recognized, the instrumentality must b~ created,and then trade will come about automatically.

If thereis a genuine and deep-seated demand among Jews for an improvement in theircondition, if the instrumentality for this demand, the Jewish Company, issufficiently powerful, then trade in the new country is bound to be plentiful.This, of course, lies in the future, just as the development of railway trafficwas a matter of the future for people in the 1830s. The railroads were builtnevertheless. Fortunately, the objections of mail-coach realists were passedover.

III. The Jewish Company

BASIC FEATURES

The JewishCompany is conceived partly along the lines of the great land-acquisitioncompanies; it might be called a Jewish "Chartered Company. However, it isnot endowed with sovereign powers and has other than merely colonial tasks.

The JewishCompany will be founded as a joint-stock company incorporated in England, underBritish laws and protection. Its headquarters will be in London. I cannot tellat this time how large the share capital should be; our numerous financialexperts will work that out. But to avoid vague terminology I shall estimate itat a billion marks; it may have to be either more or less than that. The formof subscription, which will be discussed later, will determine what fraction ofthat amount must actually be paid in at the start of the Company's operations.

The JewishCompany will be a transitional organization. It is strictly a businessoperation which must always be carefully distinguished from the Society ofJews.

The firsttask of the Jewish Company will be to liquidate the immovable property of theemigrating Jews. This will be done in such a way as to prevent crises,safeguard every man's interests, and permit that internal migration ofChristian fellow Citizens which has already been indicated.

IMMOVABLE PROPERTY TRANSACTIONS

Theimmovables concerned are buildings, land, and the local good will ofbusinesses. In the beginning the Jewish Company will merely announce itsreadiness to act as a go-between in selling these immovables. At first Jewishsales will take place freely and without any major drop in prices. TheCompany's branch establishments in a number of cities will become the centraloffices for the sale of Jewish property, and each office will charge only as muchcommission on transactions as is required for its upkeep.

Thedevelopment of the movement may bring about a fall in the prices of immovableproperty, eventually making it impossible to sell it. At that stage the Companywill branch out in its function as a business agent. It will manage abandonedproperty and watch for the right moment to sell it. The Company will collecthouse rents, let out land on lease, and install business managers-preferablyalso on a leasehold arrangement, to ensure careful administration. The Companywill endeavor everywhere to facilitate the acquisition of this property bythese (Gentile) lessees. In general, it will gradually staff its Europeanbranches with Gentile clerks and free-lance agents (lawyers, etc.), and theseare in no way to become lackeys of the Jews. They will serve as a sort ofunofficial board of control of the Christian population, making sure thateverything is open and aboveboard, that things are done honestly and in goodfaith, and that no impairment of the national wealth is intended anywhere.

At thesame time the Company will act as a salesman of property or, rather, anexchanger of property. It will e~change a house for a house, an estate for anestate-namely, "over there." Wherever possible, everything is to betransplanted the way it was "over here." In this a source of greatand legitimate profits opens up to the Company. "Over there" it willsupply more beautiful, modern houses equipped with all conveniences, as well asoffering better estates which will nevertheless cost the Company far less, forit will have bought the ground very cheaply.

PURCHASE OF LAND

The landthat is guaranteed to the Society of Jews under international law must, ofcourse, be purchased under civil law as well.

Thearrangements made by individuals for their own settlement are not within thescope of this discussion. But the Company will require large tracts of land forits own needs and ours, and it must secure the necessary land by centralizedpurchase. It will mainly be a matter of acquiring state domains now belongingto the present government of the country. The aim will b~ to acquire land"over there" without driving prices sky-high, just as "overhere" sales will be made without causing prices to drop. There is no needto worry about any wild rigging of the market, for the value of the land willbe created by the Company, which will direct the settlement of the land incooperation with the supervising Society of Jews. The latter will also see toit that the enterprise becomes a Suez rather than a Panama. [The reference isto the Suez Canal, whose construction was successfully concluded in 1869, ascontrasted with the Panama Canal, whose name became a by-word foradministrative corruption. As a result of the corrupt practices of manyofficials of the French Panama Canal Company, Ferdinand de Lesseps resigned andwas tried in 1888, and the Company was dissolved in 1889. - Editor]

TheCompany will sell its official building sites at favorable rates and grant themlong-term mortgages for the construction of attractive homes, deducting theseloans from their salaries or putting them down as gradual increments in pay.Over and above the honors in store for them, this will be a reward for theirservices.

All theenormous profits from this speculation in land will accrue to the Company, forit is entitled to an unlimited premium for having borne the risk, like any freeentrepreneur. When an undertaking involves risk, the entrepreneur should beencouraged to make a generous profit. But profits are to be tolerated onlyunder such circumstances. The correlation of risk and premium is part offinancial morality.

BUILDINGS

TheCompany, then, will exchange houses and estates. It will and must make a profiton the land. This will be plain to anyone who has anywhere or at any timeobserved the rise in the value of land through arrangements for itscultivation. This can best be seen in the case of enclosed pieces of land intown and country. Plots that are not built up increase in value through beingringed by developed areas. A land speculation brilliant in its simplicity wasaccomplished by the men who carried out the extension of Paris: instead oferecting new buildings immediately adjacent to the last houses of the city,they bought up the neighboring plots of land and started building on the outeredge of these. This inverse order of construction raised the value of buildingsites with extraordinary rapidity, and after having completed the outer ring,they confined their activities to the center of the city, building on thesemore valuable lots instead of continually erecting houses on the outskirts ofthe city.

Will theCompany do its own building or give assignments to independent architects? Itcan and will do both. As will shortly become apparent, it will have atremendous reserve of workers who, far from being exploited financially inusurious fashion, are to enjoy happy and bright living conditions and yet willnot prove costly. Our geologists will have looked into the availability ofbuilding material when they selected the sites of the towns.

What,then, is to be the principle of construction?

WORKERS' DWELLINGS

Theworkers' dwellings (which include the homes of all manual laborers) are to beerected by the Company itself. I am certainly not thinking of the dismalworkmen's barracks of European towns nor of the miserable shanties that arelined up around factories. Our workmen's homes must also present a uniformappearance, to be sure, because the Company can build cheaply only if it producesthe materials in large quantities - but these detached houses with their littlegardens shall be combined into attractive groups in each locality. The naturalqualities of the surroundings will inspire the happy genius of our youngarchitects which has not yet been sapped by routine, and even though the peoplemay not understand the great outlines of the plan, they will at any rate feelcomfortable in this uncrowded arrangement. The Synagogue will be visible fromafar, since the old faith is the only thing that has kept us together. Andthere will be attractive, bright, healthy schools for children, equipped withall modern teaching aids. There will be continuation schools for craftsmenwhich will offer advanced training for higher fu, enabling simple workers toacquire technical training and become familiar with the principles ofengineering. Also, there will be places of popular amusement, with the Societyof Jews supervising their moral standards.

But we arenow concerned only with the buildings, not with what may take place insidethem.

I saidthat the Company would build workers' dwellings cheaply-not only because therewill be an abundance of building materials, or because the land will be ownedby the Company, but also because the Company will not need to pay the laborersfor building.

Farmers inAmerica have a system of mutual assistance in the construction of their houses.This childlike, amicable system, which is as unsophisticated as the blockhousesthus erected, can be greatly refined.

UNSKILLED LABORERS

Ourunskilled laborers, who will come at first from the great reservoirs of Russiaand Romania, will also have to build one another's houses. In the beginning weshall have no steel of our own, so that we too shall be obliged to build withwood. Later on this will change, and then the original makeshift buildings willbe replaced by better ones.

Ourunskilled laborers will first erect shelters for one another - and of this theywill be informed in advance. In return for their labor they will become theowners of these houses - not immediately, to be sure, but after three years ofgood conduct. In this way we shall secure industrious, skillful people; and aman who has worked for three years under good discipline is trained for life.

I saidbefore that the Company would not have to pay these unskilleds." Well,what will they live on?

Generallyspeaking, I am opposed to the truck system, but in the case of those firstsettlers it should be applied. The Company will take care of them in so manyways that it might as well supply their daily needs. In any case, the trucksystem is to be in effect only during the first few years, and it will be aboon to the workmen, because it will protect them from being exploited by smalltradesmen, innkeepers, etc. The Company will thus make it impossible from theoutset for the less fortunate among us to take up their accustomed peddlingover there - an occupation which only historical necessity has forced them intohere. And the Company will keep a tight rein on drunkards and dissolute men. Sothere will be no wages at all during the first period of settlement?

There willbe - for overtime.

THE SEVEN-HOUR DAY

Theseven-hour day will be the standard working day.

This doesnot mean that each day there will be only seven hours of wood-cutting, digging,stone-carting, and a hundred other tasks. No, indeed. There will be fourteenhours of labor, but one group of workers will relieve another after a shift ofthree and a half hours. The organization of this will be quite military-withranks, promotions, and pensions. The source of these pensions will be discussedlater.

In threehours and a half a healthy man can do a great deal of concentrated work. Aftera recess of three and a half hours - devoted to rest, to his family, to hiseducation under guidance-he will be quite fresh again. Such labor can workwonders.

Theseven-hour day! It makes possible a total of fourteen working hours - more thanthat cannot be put into a day.

Furthermore,I am convinced that the seven-hour day is entirely feasible. The experiments inBelgium and England are familiar. Some advanced social thinkers even go so faras to claim that a five-hour day would be quite sufficient. Anyway, the Societyof Jews and the Jewish Company will gather an abundance of empirical data inthis field, new data which will benefit the other nations of the world as well,and if the seven-hour day proves to be practicable, our future State willintroduce it as the legal, regular working day.

In anyevent, the Company will always grant its workers a seven-hour day, and it willalways be able to do so.

But weneed the seven-hour day as a worldwide rallying cry for our people, all of whomare to come voluntarily. Ours must truly be the Promised Land …

A man whoworks more than seven hours will receive additional pay for overtime in cash.Since all his needs will be su~ plied and any members of his family who areunable to work will be provided for by the transplanted and centralizedcharitable institutions, he will be able to save some money. Thrift, which isalready a characteristic of our people, should be encouraged, because it willfacilitate the rise of individuals to higher strata and provide us with atremendous reserve fund for future loans.

Overtimeon a seven-hour day must not exceed three hours, and a medical examination willbe required for it. For in the new life our men will flock to work, and onlythen will the world see what an industrious people we are.

At thistime I shall not describe the set-up of the truck system for the pioneers(vouchers, etc.) nor any number of other details, lest I confuse my readers.Women will not be allowed to do any hard work or to work overtime. Pregnantwomen will be exempted from work and supplied with extra food by the truck. Forwe will need sturdy offspring in the future. We shall raise our children fromthe very beginning just as we want them. I shall not go into this here.

What Isaid before in connection with the workers' dwellings about the"unskilleds" and their mode of living is no more Utopian than all therest. Everything already exists - only on an infinitely small scale, unnoticed,unappreciated. In the solution of the Jewish Question the assistance par letravail, which I learned to know and understand in Paris, has been of greatservice to me.

WORK RELIEF

The systemof work relief that is now in existence in Paris, various French cities, inEngland, in Switzerland, and in America is a pitiably small thing, but it canbe turned into something very great.

What isthe principle of assistance par le travail?

Theprinciple is to furnish every needy man with unskilled work - easy choresrequiring no training, such as chopping wood, cutting the margotins usedfor lighting stoves in Paris households. It is a kind of prison labor beforethe crime, i.e., one that involves no dishonor. Now no one need commit acrime out of want if he is willing to work. Hunger must no longer be a reasonfor committing suicide. As it is, suicides are among the worst stigmata of acivilization in which dogs are thrown tidbits from the tables of rich men.

Workrelief thus gives work to everyone. But does it have a market for its products?It does not-at least, not an adequate one-and this is the defect of the presentsystem. This assistance always works at a loss. It is prepared for one,to be sure, for it is a charitable institution. Here the charity consists inthe difference between the cost of production and the price received for theproduct. Instead of giving a beggar two sous, the institution gives him work onwhich it loses two sous. However, the shabby beggar who has become arespectable workman earns one franc fifty centimes. One hundred and fiftycentimes for ten! This means that the donation, about which there no longer isanything humiliating, has been increased fifteenfold, that one billion has beenturned into fifteen!

The assistanceloses the ten centimes, of course. The Jewish Company, however, will notlose its one billion, but will make enormous profits.

There is amoral side as well. Even the small-scale work relief already in existenceachieves moral rehabilitation through industry, until such time as theunemployed person has found a position commensurate with his abilities, eitherin his old line of work or in a new one. Each day he has a few hours availablefor job-hunting, and the assistance has a placement service.

Thetrouble with the present small-scale institution is that it must not competewith lumber dealers and the like. Lumber dealers are voters; they would raisean outcry, and justifiably so. Nor may the work relief compete with the prisonlabor of the state, for the state must keep its criminals occupied and fed.

In an oldsociety it will be hard to find a for the assistance par le travail.

But there isa place for it in our new one!

Above all,we shall need enormous numbers of unskilled laborers for our first pioneeringefforts - building roads, de-foresting, digging up the ground, constructingrailroads, setting up telegraph installations, etc. All this will be done inaccordance with a great, predetermined plan.

COMMERCE

Intransferring our labor to the new country we shall also bring along commerce.At first, to be sure, the market will cover only the bare necessities of life:cattle, grain, working clothes, tools, arms - to mention but a few things.Initially we shall buy these things in neighboring states or in Europe, but assoon as possible we shall go into business for ourselves. Jewish entrepreneurswill soon realize what business prospects are opening up to them.

The mass ofCompany officials will gradually introduce more refined requirements. (Amongthe officials I include the officers of our security forces, which are toconsist of about one-tenth of the male immigrants at any given time. Thisshould be sufficient to quell disturbances by the disorderly, for most peopleare law-abiding).

The morerefined requirements of our well-situated officials will create a continuouslygrowing market for finer things. As soon as they have homes over there, themarried men will send for their families, single people for their parents,brothers, and sisters. Today we observe this process among Jews who emigrate tothe United States. Just as soon as a man is sure of his daily bread he sendsfor his relatives, for family ties are quite strong among Jews. The Society ofJews and the Jewish Company will work together to strengthen and nurture thefamily even more. I am not referring to the moral aspects, for these areobvious, but to material things. The officials will receive allowances for wifeand children. We shall need people-all who are there and all who will follow.

OTHER CLASSES OF DWELLINGS

Iinterrupted the main thread of this presentation after discussing the Company'sbuilding of workers' dwellings. Now I shall return to other classes ofdwellings. The Company's architects will build for the lower middle class aswell, for payment in kind or cash. The Company will have its architects designarid reproduce about a hundred types of houses. These attractive models will atthe same time be part of our promotion. Each house will have its fixed price,and the quality of its workmanship will be guaranteed by the Company, whichwill handle construction on a non-profit basis. And where will these buildingsbe put up? That will be shown in the section dealing with Local Groups.

Since theCompany does not wish to make a profit on construction but only on the land, itwill be very pleased to have as many independent architects as possible buildby private contract. This will enhance the value of landed property and bringluxury into the country-something that we need for various purposes,particularly for art, industry, and, on a long-range basis, for the break-up ofthe large fortunes.

Yes, therich Jews who are now obliged to secrete their valuables timidly and to givetheir dreary parties behind drawn curtains will be able to enjoy theirpossessions freely over there. If this emigration comes about with their help,capital will be rehabilitated in our new State, for it will have demonstrated itsusefulness in an unparalleled undertaking. Once the wealthiest Jews in the newcountry begin to rebuild those mansions of theirs which are now looked ataskance in Europe, it will soon become fashionable to move into sumptuoushouses on the other side.

SOME FORMS OF LIQUIDATION

The JewishCompany is planned as the receiver or administrator of the immovable propertyof the Jews.

Thesefunctions can easily be imagined in the case of houses and pieces of land; buthow does it work in the case of businesses?

Here therewill be numerous procedures. In fact, they can-not even be envisaged in outlineform. And yet this will present no difficulty, for in each individual case theowner of a business, when he voluntarily decides to emigrate, will reach anagreement with the Company's branch office in his area on the form ofliquidation most advantageous to him.

Thetransfer of property will be easiest to arrange in the case of smallbusinessmen, in whose establishments the proprietor's own activity is the mainthing, while the small inventory or equipment is of secondary importance. TheCompany will provide an assured field of operations for the emigrant's ownactivity, and whatever material goods he owns can be replaced on the other sidewith a plot of land and machinery on credit. Our resourceful people willquickly learn their new jobs; Jews are known to adapt themselves quickly to anyform of earning a livelihood. In this way many merchants can be turned intoretailers within an agricultural framework. The Company can even agree tosustain an apparent loss in taking over the immovable property of the pooreremigrants, for it will thereby obtain the free cultivation of tracts of land,raising the value of its other tracts.

Inmedium-sized businesses, where the inventory equals or even exceeds inimportance the personal participation of the proprietor and where his credit isa major imponderable factor, various forms of liquidation are conceivable. Inaddition, this is one of the principal opportunities for the internal migrationof Gentiles [into positions evacuated by Jews]. A departing Jew will not losehis personal credit, but will take it along and put it to good use inestablishing himself in the new country. The Jewish Company will open a currentaccount for him. He can sell his old business or turn it over to managers underthe supervision of Company officials. The managers may rent the business orprepare for its acquisition by paying for it in installments. Through itssupervisors and lawyers the Company will see to it that the business isproperly administered and that payments are properly made. In this itwill act as trustee for the absentee owners. If a Jew cannot sell his business,does not entrust it to a proxy, and yet does not wish to relinquish it, he willsimply stay where he is. Even the Jews who stay will not worsen their presentposition; they will be relieved of the competition of those who leave, andanti-Semitism with its "Don't buy from Jews!" will have ceased.

If theemigrating business proprietor wishes to carry on the same business in the newcountry, he can make arrangements for this from the very beginning. Let usillustrate this by an example. Firm X carries on a large dry-goods business.The proprietor wishes to emigrate. First he sets up a branch in his futureplace of residence and stocks it with his discontinued items. His firstcustomers on the other side will be the poor early settlers. Gradually newpeople will come over who require more in the way of fashion. X then sends outmore modern items and, finally, high-fashion merchandise. The branchestablishment will be lucrative even while the parent firm is still inexistence, so that X will end up having two going concerns. He will sellhis original business or turn its management over to his Gentilerepresentative, while he goes off to take charge of his new business.

An exampleon a larger scale: Y & Son have an extensive coal business with mines andfactories. How is such a huge compound of properties to be liquidated? In thefirst place, the coal mines and everything connected with them might be boughtup by the state in which they are located. In the second place, the JewishCompany might acquire them, paying for them partly in land in the new country,partly in cash. A third possibility would be the founding of a separatejoint-stock company, "Y & Son." A fourth method might be theunchanged continued operation of the business - the difference being that theproprietors who have emigrated and occasionally return to inspect their propertywould be foreigners, although they would be entitled to the full protection ofthe law in civilized countries. All of these practices are ephenomena. A fifthand particularly fruitful and splendid method I shall refer to only in passing,because the existing examples of it are few and feeble, no matter how ready themodern mind may be to accept it. Y & Son could turn over their business tothe collective body of their employees for a consideration. The employees wouldform a cooperative with limited liability, and with the aid of the publictreasury, which does not charge a usurious interest, they might be able to paythe requisite sum to Y & Son. The employees would then gradually pay offthe loan given them by either the public treasury, the Jewish Company, or eventhe firm itself.

The JewishCompany will liquidate the smallest as well as the largest businesses. Andwhile the Jews emigrate peacefully and establish their new homes, the Companywill act as the great body corporate which organizes the departure, supervisesthe property left behind, guarantees with its visible, tangible assets that alltransactions will proceed in good order, and provides constant security forthose who have already emigrated.

GUARANTEES OF THE COMPANY

In whatway will the Company guarantee that the abandonment of countries will not causetheir impoverishment and produce economic crises?

It hasalready been stated that respectable anti-Semites, while preserving theirindependence which is of value to us, are to participate in the project aspopular supervisory authorities, as it were.

But thestate, too, has fiscal interests which might be harmed. It will lose a group oftax payers who may be little appreciated as citizens but are highly valued froma financial point of view. The state must be given compensation for this loss.Actually, we shall offer one indirectly: by leaving in the country businesseswhich we have built up with our Jewish acumen and our Jewish industry, byletting our Gentile fellow citizens move into the positions we have evacuated,thus enabling the masses to rise to prosperity with unprecedented peacefulness.The French Revolution had a similar result, on a small scale, but it tooktorrents of blood on the guillotine, in every province of France, and on thebattlefields of Europe. Then, too, inherited and acquired rights had to bedestroyed, and only those grew rich who shrewdly bought up state properties.

The JewishCompany will offer direct advantages as well to the states which come withinits sphere of activity. Governments everywhere can be assured of being able topurchase abandoned Jewish property on favorable terms. The governments, fortheir part, will be able to use this amicable expropriation on a large scalefor certain social improvements.

The JewishCompany will give assistance to governments and parliaments which desire todirect the internal migration of Gentile citizens.

The JewishCompany will also pay heavy taxes.

Itscentral office will be in London, for it must be under the legal protection ofa great Power which is not at present anti-Semitic. But if the Company issupported officially and semi-officially, it will everywhere provide a broadtax base. It will set up taxable branch establishments everywhere; also, itwill offer the advantage of a twofold transfer of property-which means a doublepayment. Even in transactions where the Company is merely a real-estate agencyit will temporarily have the semblance of a purchaser. Although it does notwish to own property, the Company will momentarily appear as the owner in theregister of landed property.

These are,of course, mere matters of bookkeeping. In each particular place it will haveto be considered and decided how far the Company can go without jeopardizingits own existence. It will freely confer with Finance Ministers on thesepoints. The Ministers will clearly recognize its good intentions and willeverywhere offer those concessions which are demonstrably necessary for thesuccessful accomplishment of the great undertaking.

Another directbenefit lies in the transport of freight and passengers. This is immediatelyevident where railroads are state property. Where they are operated by privateinterests, the Company will, like any major shipper, receive favorable terms.Naturally, it will have to let our people travel and ship their belongings ascheaply as possible, because everyone will be making the trip at his ownexpense. The middle classes will use Cook's system, while stage coaches will beavailable for the poorer classes. The Company might make a great deal of moneyby discounts on passengers and freight; but here, too, its guiding principlemust be to cover only its working expenses.

In manyplaces the transport business is in Jewish hands. The shipping agencies will bethe first needed by the Company and the first liquidated by it. The originalowners of these businesses will either enter the Company's service or establishthemselves independently on the other side. There will be a demand for freightagents at the places of arrival, and since this is an excellent business andpeople not only may but should make money there right away, there will be nolack of enterprising spirits. There is no need to elaborate on the businessdetails of this mass expedition. They should grow rationally out of the purposeat hand, and many able minds shall and will work out the best procedure.

SOME OF THE COMPANY'S ACTIVITIES

Manyactivities will be interconnected. Just one example: The Company will graduallygo into the manufacture of goods in the settlements which will be primitive inthe beginning. Clothing, linen, shoes, etc. will at first be mass-produced forour own poor emigrants, for they will be provided with new clothes at theEuropean places of departure. They will not receive these clothes as alms, forthey must not be humiliated, but will simply have their old things exchangedfor new ones. Any loss sustained by the Company in this will be put down as abusiness loss. Those who are completely destitute will receive these clothes asa loan from the Company which they will pay off on the other side by workingovertime; they will be exempted from this if their conduct warrants it.

In thesematters, incidentally, the existing emigration societies will have a chance tobe of assistance. Everything they have done up to now for departing Jews theyshall henceforth do for the colonists of the Jewish Company. The forms of suchcooperation will be easily found.

Even thenew clothing of the poor emigrants should have a symbolic meaning: "Youare now starting a new life!" The Society of Jews will see to it that longbefore the departure and also during the journey a solemn and festive mood ismaintained by means of prayers, popular lectures, information on the purpose ofthe expedition, hygienic regulations for their new places of residence, andguidance in regard to their future work. For the Promised Land is the land oflabor. Upon their arrival the emigrants will be welcomed by our chief officialswith due solemnity but without foolish jubilation, for the Promised Land hasyet to be won. But these poor people should already see that they are at home.

TheCompany's manufacture of clothes for the poor emigrants will not, of course,proceed without proper planning. The Society of Jews will obtain informationabout the number of emigrants, the date of their arrival, and theirrequirements from the Local Groups and must communicate all this in good timeto the Jewish Company. In this way it will be possible to make the properarrangements for them in advance.

PROMOTION OF INDUSTRIES

The tasksof the Jewish Company and the Society of Jews cannot be kept strictly apart inthis outline. Actually, these two great bodies will have to work togetherconstantly. The Company will remain dependent on the moral authority andsupport of the Society, just as the Society will not be able to dispense withthe material assistance of the Company. For example, the systematicorganization of the clothing industry will be a first modest attempt to avoidcrises of overproduction. This procedure shall be followed in all areas inwhich the Company assumes an industrial function.

Buunder nocircumstances must the Company use its superior power to stifle individualenterprise. We shall be collectivists only where the enormous difficulties ofthe task require it. In general we will cherish and protect the individual andhis rights. Private property, as the economic basis of independence, shalldevelop with freedom and respect among us. After all, we shall give our veryfirst "unskilleds" a chance to become proprietors.

The spiritof enterprise shall be encouraged in every way. The establishment of industrieswill be promoted by a sensible tariff policy, by the supply of cheap rawmaterial, and by the creation of a bureau which will gather and publishindustrial statistics.

Thisspirit of enterprise can be stimulated in a sound way, avoiding haphazardspeculation. The establishment of a new industry will be announced a sufficienttime in advance, so that an entrepreneur who six months later may hit on theidea of starting a similar business will be spared failure and financial ruin.Since the Company is to be informed of the purpose of any new establishment,information on business prospects will be available to anyone at any time.

In addition,industrialists will have centralized labor at their disposal. An entrepreneurwill apply to an employment office which will charge him only a fee requiredfor its operating expenses. An industrialist might, for instance, telegraphthat he needs the next day five hundred "unskilleds" for three days,three weeks, or three months. The next day the required five hundred willarrive at his agricultural or industrial establishment; the labor agency willhave collected them from every available source. The haphazard movements ofmigratory workers will thus be refined along military lines, becoming apurposeful institution. No slave labor will be supplied, of course, but onlymen who work seven hours a day, who preserve their organization, and despitechanges of locality get credit for seniority along with their regular ranks,promotions, and pensions. A free entrepreneur may obtain his workmen from othersources as well if he so desires, but he will not find it easy to do so. TheSociety will be able to prevent the introduction of non-Jewish wage slaves byboycotting uncooperative industrialists, obstructing transportation, and thatsort of thing. The seven-hour workers will therefore have to be taken, and inthis way we shall achieve the regular seven-hour working day almost painlessly.

SETTLEMENT OF SKILLED LABORERS

It isclear that what can be done with the "unskilleds" will be even easierin the case of skilled workers. Piece workers in factories can be subject tothe same regulations, and the central labor agency will provide them.

As for theindependent artisans, the small master craftsmen whom we want to take good careof with a view to the future progress of technology, whom we want to providewith technical information even if they are no longer young, to whom waterpower and electric light are to be made available-these independent craftsmen,too, shall be sought out and provided by the central agency of the Society. ALocal Group will apply to the central office, stating that so-and-so-manycarpenters, locksmiths, glaziers, etc. are needed. The office will make thisknown and the people will come forward. They and their families will move tothe places where they are needed and establish their residence there, withoutbeing crushed by random competition. A permanent, good home will have beencreated for them.

RAISING THE CAPITAL

An amountthat sounds fantastic has been mentioned as the capital required forestablishing the Jewish Company. The actual amount needed will have to bedetermined by financial experts, and it will certainly be an enormous sum. Howis it to be raised? There are three methods which the Society will take underconsideration. The Society, this great "moral person," the gestor ofthe Jews, will consist of our best and most upright men who cannot and must notderive any financial gain from the undertaking. Although in the beginning theonly authority of the Society will be a moral one, this authority will sufficeto establish the credit of the Jewish Company in the eyes of the Jewish people.The Jewish Company will have prospects of commercial success only if it has theSociety's stamp of approval, so to speak. Thus no random group of financierswill be able to band together to form the Jewish Company. The Society willinvestigate, select, and decide, and it will approve of the establishment onlyafter it has been furnished with all necessary securities for the conscientiousexecution of the plan. Experiments with insufficient means must not be made,for this enterprise must succeed at the very first attempt. Failure wouldcompromise the whole idea for decades to come and might even render itpermanently impossible.

The threemethods of raising capital are: 1) through big banks; 2) through smaller banks;3) through public subscription.

The easiest,fastest, and surest method would be for the big banks to found the Company. Theexisting great financial groups could raise the necessary funds in a very shorttime by merely consulting together. This would have the great advantage that itwould not be necessary to pay in the whole billion (to stick to the originalfigure) all at once. A further advantage would be that the credit of thesepowerful financial groups would also accrue to the enterprise. A great manyunutilized political forces lie dormant in the financial power of the Jews. Theenemies of Jewry picture this power as being as effective as it might be butactually is not. Poor Jews feel only the hatred that this financial powerarouses; they do not get the benefits, the alleviation of their sufferings,which might be produced. The credit policy of the great Jewish financiers oughtto be placed in the service of the National Idea. But if these gentlemen, whoare quite satisfied with their lot, do not feel impelled to do something fortheir fellow Jews who are unjustly held responsible for the great fortunes ofsome individuals, then the realization of this plan will afford an opportunityfor drawing a clear line of demarcation between them and the rest of Jewry.

The bigbanks, incidentally, will not be called upon to provide such an enormous amountout of charitable motives; that would be foolish presumptuousness. Rather, thefounders and stockholders of the Jewish Company should make a good profit, andthey will be able to calculate in advance what their chances are. For theSociety of Jews will be in possession of all documents and aids by which theprospects of the Jewish Company may be gauged. The Society of Jews will inparticular have made a close study of the scope of the new Jewish movement, andit will be able to give the founders of the Company perfectly reliableinformation on the degree of participation it may expect. By supplying theCompany with comprehensive modern statistics on the Jews, the Society will bedoing the work of a societe d’etudes [study commission] of the kind thatis appointed in France before the financing of a very big enterprise isundertaken.

Even so,the scheme may not receive the precious approval of the Jewish money magnates.They may even try to oppose our Jewish movement by using their secret lackeysand agents. Such opposition, like any other that is forced upon us, we shallmeet with relentless firmness.

Perhapsthe money magnates will content themselves with disposing of the matter with asmile of rejection.

Does thatmean that it is finished?

It doesnot.

Then weshall turn to the second method of raising money, an appeal to the moderatelyrich Jews. In the name of the National Idea the smaller Jewish banks would haveto be united against the big bankers, forming a second formidable financialforce. The trouble with this would be that at first it would all be nothing buta financial transaction, for the billion would have to be subscribed in fullbefore we would be allowed to start operations; and since this money wouldbecome available only gradually, there would be sorts of banking transactionsand loans during the first few years. It might even come about that in this waythe original purpose would gradually be forgotten; the moderately rich Jewswould have found a new and large business, and the migration of the Jews wouldbog down.

The ideaof raising money in this way is anything but fantastic; that much is known.There have already been several attempts to muster Catholic money against thebig banks; that one could also oppose them with Jewish money has not beenconsidered until now.

But whatcrises all this would produce! The countries in which such conflicts occurredwould suffer, and anti-Semitism would be bound to become rampant.

ThereforeI do not like the thought of this, and I only mention it because it lies withinthe logical development of the idea.

Nor do Iknow whether smaller banks will take up my idea.

In anycase, even if the moderately rich reject the scheme, it is not done for. Infact, then it would begin in earnest.

For thenthe Society of Jews, which will not be composed of businessmen, might try tofound the Company through popular subscription.

TheCompany's capital could be raised by announcing a public subscription directly,without a syndicate of big or small banks acting as an intermediary. Not onlypoor Jews but also Gentiles who wanted to get rid of the Jews would participatein this method of raising funds in very small amounts. It would be a new andoriginal kind of plebiscite whereby everyone who wished to vote for this formof solving the Jewish Question could express himself by subscribing a certainsum conditionally. The condition would constitute his security. The full sumwould be payable only if the entire amount had been subscribed; otherwise theinitial payment would be returned.

But if thewhole of the required sum is raised by worldwide popular subscription, theneach individual small amount will be guaranteed by the countless other smallamounts.

Thiswould, of course, require the express and firm assistance of interestedgovernments.

TheJewish State - IV. Local Groups

THE TRANSPLANTATION

So far ithas only been shown how the emigration may be carried out without an economicupheaval. But such an emigration also involves many deep and powerful emotions.There are old customs and memories which bind all of us to certain places. Wehave cradles and we have graves, and it is well known what graves mean toJewish hearts. Our cradles we shall take along; in them there slumbers ourfuture, rosy and smiling. Our beloved graves we shall have to leave behind; Ithink this is what we covetous people will find it hardest to part from, but itwill have to be.

Economicdistress, political pressure, and social hatred are already driving us from ourhomes and from our graves. We Jews are even now constantly moving from onecountry to another; a strong current even carries us across the sea to theUnited States, where we are not liked either. Where will people want us as longas we have no homeland of our own?

But wewill give the Jews a homeland-not by forcibly uprooting them from their soil,but by lifting them out carefully, roots and all, and transplanting them inbetter ground. Just as we want to create new economic and political conditions,we intend to keep sacred all emotional attachments to the past. This theme canonly be briefly touched upon, for at this point the danger is greatest that myplan will be considered overly romantic.

And yetthis, too, is possible and real, though it now occurs in actuality in a tangledand ineffectual form. Organization can turn it into something rational.

EMIGRATION IN GROUPS

Our peopleare to emigrate in groups of families and friends. No one will be forced tojoin the group departing from his present locality. Everyone may go the way hewants -to after he has settled his affairs. After all, everyone will be payinghis own way, in whatever class of railroad and ship he chooses. It is possiblethat our trains and boats will have only one class. On such long trips the poorare bothered by differences in wealth. And even though we are not taking ourpeople across for entertainment, we still do not wish to spoil their good humoron the way.

No onewill travel under conditions of hardship, but everything in the way of elegantcomfort will be available. People will make arrangements far in advance - evenin the most favorable circumstances it will be years before the movement getsrolling among the individual propertied classes - and the well-to-do will formtraveling parties. All personal connections will be taken along. We know that,with the exception of the wealthiest, Jews have almost no social relations withGentiles. In some countries those Jews who do not support a few dinner-tableparasites, spongers, and flunkeys have no Gentile acquaintances whatever. Theghetto continues to exist within.

Therefore,those of average means will make prolonged and careful preparations fordeparture. Every locality will form a group. In large cities there will beseveral district groups which will communicate by means of electedrepresentatives. There is nothing obligatory about this division intodistricts; it is actually intended only as an aid to those less well-to-do andto obviate discomfort and homesickness during the trip. Everyone is free totravel alone or to join any Local Group whatever. The conditions will be thesame for all travelers of a particular class. If a traveling party is largeenough, the Company will give it a special train and thereafter a special boat.

Suitableliving accommodations for the poorer people will be provided by the Company'shousing office. Later on, when the more prosperous emigrate, their easilyforeseeable lodging needs will have encouraged private enterprise to buildhotels. Besides, the well-to-do emigrants will have built their housesbeforehand, so that they need only move from an abandoned old home into afinished new one.

There isno need for us to assign tasks to our intelligentsia. Every man who ralliesbehind the National Idea will know how to propagate it and translate it intoaction in his own circle. We shall make a special appeal for the participationof our spiritual leaders.

OUR SPIRITUAL LEADERS

Each groupwill have its Rabbi who will travel with his congregation. All groupings willbe voluntary. A Local Group will have a Rabbi as its nucleus; there will be asmany such groups as there are Rabbis. For the Rabbis will be the first tounderstand us, to be enthusiastic about the cause, and they will impart theirenthusiasm to the others from their pulpits. There will be no need to call anyspecial assemblies with a lot of blather. The appeal will be included in thereligious service, and properly so. We recognize our historic identity only bythe faith of our fathers, because we have long since inextinguishably absorbedthe languages of various nationalities.

The Rabbiswill then regularly receive the announcements of the Society and the Company,and they will share them with, and explain them to, their congregations. Israelwill pray for us and for itself.

REPRESENTATIVES OF THE LOCAL GROUPS

The LocalGroups will appoint small committees of representatives under the chairmanshipof the Rabbis. The committees will discuss and decide all practical issues inaccordance with local needs.

Charitableinstitutions will be freely transferred by the Local Groups. Endowedinstitutions will remain with their original Local Group on the other side. Thebuildings should not be sold, in my opinion, but donated to needy Gentiles inthe cities concerned. When land is distributed over there, the Local Groupswill receive credit for this in the form of free building sites and specialconsideration in construction.

Thetransfer of charitable institutions will provide another of those opportunitieswhich occur at a number of different points in this plan to make an experimentin the service of humanity. Our present disorganized system of privatephilanthropy does little good in proportion to the expenditure involved. Theseinstitutions can and must be organized in such a way that they will supplementone another. In a new society these institutions can be set up in accordancewith modern ideas and on the basis of all available socio-political experience.This matter is of great importance to us, since we have a large number ofpaupers. The weaker characters among us, disheartened by external pressure andspoiled by the flabby charity of our rich men, easily degenerate to beggary.

TheSociety, supported by the Local Groups, will give its full attention toeducating the people in this respect. A fertile soil will be created for manyenergies that are now withering away uselessly. Whoever is willing shall besuitably employed. Beggars will not be tolerated. Anyone who refuses to work ofhis own free will is going to be put in a workhouse.

On theother hand, we shall not relegate our old people to homes for the aged. Suchhomes are one of the most cruel forms of charity that our fatuous benevolencehas devised. In a home for the aged an old person dies of shame and grief.Actually, he is buried alive there. But we will leave even those on the lowestlevel of intelligence the comforting illusion of usefulness till the end oftheir lives. Those incapable of physical labor shall be given light tasks. Wemust take into account the atrophied arms of an already enfeebled generation.But future generations shall be brought up differently: in freedom for freedom.

We shallseek for all ages, for all walks of life, the moral blessings of labor. Thus willour people regain its skill in the land of the seven-hour working day.

PLANS OF THE TOWNS

The LocalGroups will delegate their authorized representatives to select sites fortowns. In the distribution of land every precaution will be taken to ensure a gentletransplantation and the preservation of all rightful claims.

The LocalGroups will have plans of the towns. Our people will know beforehand where theyare going, in what towns and in what houses they will live. The building plansand the clear illustrations which are to be distributed among the LocalGrouphave already been mentioned.

Just asstrict centralization will be the principle of our administration, theprinciple for the Local Groups will be full autonomy. Only in this way can thetransplanting be accomplished painlessly.

I do notimagine all this to be easier than it actually is; on the other hand, peopleshould not imagine it to be harder.

THE EMIGRATION OF THE MIDDLE CLASSES

The middleclasses will automatically be drawn along by our movement. Some will have theirsons on the other side, as officials of the Society or employees of theCompany. Lawyers, doctors, engineers of every description, young businessmen-infact, all Jews in search of opportunity who are now fleeing oppression in theirnative lands to make a living in other parts of the world-will assemble on asoil so full of promise. Others will have daughters married to suchup-and-coming men. Then one of our young people will send for his fiancee,another for his parents, brothers, and sisters. In a new civilization peoplemarry young. This can only benefit general morality, and we shall have sturdyoffspring-not those delicate children of fathers who have married late, havingalready spent their energies in life's struggles.

Every middle-classemigrant will pull others of his kind along.

Naturally,the best of the new world will belong to the most courageous.

Here, tobe sure, seems to lie the greatest difficulty of the plan.

Even if wesucceed in initiating a serious worldwide discussion of the Jewish Question -

Even ifthis discussion leads to the most unequivocal conclusion that the Jewish Stateis a world necessity -

Even if weacquire sovereignty over some territory through the support of the Powers -

How do weget the Jewish masses to move from their present homes to this new countrywithout coercion?

For do wenot always envisage their emigration as a voluntary one?

THE PHENOMENON OF THE MULTITUDE

Greatexertion will hardly be necessary to stimulate the migration. The anti-Semitesare already taking care of this for us. They need only do what they are doingnow, and the desire of the Jews to emigrate will arise where it does not existand intensify where it is already present. If Jews now remain in anti-Semiticcountries, they do so chiefly because even those among them who are ignorant ofhistory know that the numerous changes of residence over the centuries have notbrought us any lasting benefits. If today there were a country where the Jewswere welcomed and offered even fewer advantages than will be assured when theJewish State comes into being, that country would immediately attract a greatinflux of Jews. The poorest, who have nothing to lose, would drag themselvesthere. But I maintain, and everyone will know for himself whether this is trueor not, that as a result of the pressure weighing upon us there is a desire toemigrate even among our prosperous classes. Actually, our poorest strata alonewould suffice to found a State; in fact, they are the most suitable human materialfor acquiring a land, because a little bit of desperation is necessary forgreat ventures.

But as our"desperadoes" raise the value of the land by their arrival and theirlabor, they will gradually entice people of greater means as well to followthem.

Higher andyet higher strata will become interested in going across. The expedition of thefirst and poorest settlers will be directed jointly by the Society and theCompany, and in this they will probably be supported by the existing emigrationand Zion societies.

How can amultitude be directed to a particular spot without being given a command?

There arecertain Jewish philanthropists on a grand scale who wish to alleviate Jewishsuffering through Zionistic experiments. These benefactors have already had toface this problem, and they thought they were solving it when they provided theemigrants with money or means of employment. Thus a philanthropist would say,"I shall pay these people to go there."

That isdead wrong, and all the money in the world cannot pay for it.

TheCompany, by contrast, will say: "We shall not pay them; we shall make thempay. Only, we are going to offer them something."

I willillustrate this by means of a humorous example. One of those philanthropist -let us call him "The Baron" - and I would like to assemble a crowd ofpeople on the plain of Longchamps near Paris on a hot Sunday afternoon. Bypromising them 10 francs each, the Baron will bring out 20,000 perspiring,miserable people who will curse him for having inflicted this drudgery uponthem.

I, on theother hand, shall offer the 200,000 francs as a prize for the swiftest racehorse-and then I shall put up barriers to keep the people off the Longchampscourse. Those who want to get in have to pay: 1 franc, 5 francs, 20 francs.

The upshotwill be that I shall get half a million people out there; the President of theRepublic will drive up a la Daumont[The expression "a laDaumont" originated during the period of the French Restoration andreferred to driving in state after the manner of the Duc d'Aumont, theinitiator of the four-horse carriage in which the horses were led by twopostillions]; and the people will have a good time entertaining oneanother. Most of them will find the exercise in the open air a pleasure inspite of the heat and the dust, and for my 200,000 francs I shall havecollected a million in admissions and betting taxes. I can get those samepeople out there again any time I want to; but the Baron cannot-not at anyprice.

Let megive a more serious illustration of the same phenomenon in an economicsituation. Try to get someone to shout this in the streets of a city:"Whoever is willing to stand all day long, in the bitter cold of winter orthe burning heat of summer, in an iron hall exposed on all sides and there toaccost every passer-by and offer him junk, or fish, or fruit, will receive twoflorins, or four francs, or anything he pleases."

How manypeople do you suppose will go to that hall? If hunger drove them there, howmany days would they stand it? And if they did hold out, how much eagernesswould they display in trying to persuade the passers-by to purchase fruit,fish, or junk?

We shallgo about it in a different way. In places where trade is active-and theseplaces we can discover all the more easily because we shall channel trade inany direction we please - we shall build large halls and call them markets.These halls could be worse built and more unhealthy than those I havementioned, and yet people would flock to them. But we shall make them betterand more attractive, applying our best efforts. And the people, to whom we havepromised nothing, because we cannot promise them anything without deceivingthem, these good, enterprising people will create an atmosphere of fun and do athriving business. They will tirelessly harangue the buyers; they will stand ontheir feet and scarcely think of fatigue. They will not only rush there everyday so as to be the first on the job, but they will form unions, combines, allsorts of things, just so they can continue this gainful employment undisturbed.And even if it turns out at the end of a day that all their honest work hasnetted them only a florin-and-a-half, or three francs, or whatever, they willstill look forward hopefully to the next day, which may be better for them.

We shallhave given them hope.

Wouldanyone like to know where we are going to get the demand which is needed forthe markets? Is it really necessary to spell this out?

Idemonstrated earlier that the assistance par le travail will produce afifteenfold return: fifteen millions for one million; fifteen billions for onebillion.

Well, isthis just as true on a large scale as it is on a small one? Does not capitalyield a return that diminishes in inverse ratio to its own growth? That is trueof inactive capital, capital that has gone into hiding, but not of the activekind. In fact, that kind of capital yields a tremendously increasing return inlarge amounts. Indeed, this is the crux of the social question.

Am Istating facts? I call on the ricJews to attest to it. Why do they engage in somany industries? Why do they send men to work underground and bring up coal formeager wages and amidst terrible dangers? I cannot imagine this to be pleasant,even for the owners of the mines. For I do not believe, and do not pretend tobelieve, that capitalists are heartless. My desire is not to agitate, but toreconcile differences.

Do I needto illustrate the phenomenon of masses and the ways of attracting them to anydesired spot by discussing religious pilgrimages, too?

I do notwish to offend anyone's religious sensibilities by words which might bemisinterpreted.

I merelycite in passing what the pilgrimage to Mecca means in the Mohammedan world, orwhat Catholics feel for Lourdes and countless other places. including the HolyCoat of Trier [The Holy Coat of Trier is a treasured relic in the Cathedral ofthis city. It is a seamless garment supposed to have been worn by Jesus, and,when exhibited in 1844 and 1891 (and again in 1933), it attracted vast crowdsof pilgrims] from which people return home comforted by their faith.

Thus wetoo shall create goals for the deep religious needs of our people. Ourclergymen will be the first to understand us and go along with us.

We shalllet everyone find salvation over there in his own way. That includes, and veryparticularly, our beloved freethinkers, our immortal army which is conqueringmore and more new territory for mankind.

No moreforce will be applied against anyone than is necessary for the preservation ofthe State and public order. And the force required will not be arbitrarilydetermined by whatever person or persons happen to be in authority at a giventime, but will reside in iron-clad laws.

Now, if itbe inferred from my illustrations that the masses can be attracted to suchcenters of faith, of business, or of amusement only temporarily, the rebuttalis simple. One of these objects can only attract the masses, but all of thecenters combined are designed to hold them and give them permanent satisfaction.For all these centers together constitute a great, long-sought entity, one forwhich our people has never ceased to yearn, for which it has kept itself alive,for which it has been kept alive by external pressure: a free homeland! Oncethe movement comes into being, we shall pull some along with us and let othersfollow; still others will be swept along, and the last will be pushed after us.

These, thehesitating laggards, will be the worst off, both here and on the other side.

But thevanguard, those who go over with faith, enthusiasm, and courage, will have thebest places.

OUR HUMAN MATERIAL

There aremore misconceptions in circulation about the Jews than about any other people.And our age-old sufferings have made us so depressed and so discouraged that weourselves parrot and believe these canards. One of them is that Jews have animmoderate love of business. Now, it is well known that wherever we arepermitted to share in the rise of classes we quickly give up trading. By farthe great majority of Jewish businessmen send their sons to the universities;hence the so-called "Judaization" of all professions. But even in thelower economic strata our love of business is by no means as great as issupposed. In the countries of Eastern Europe there are large masses of Jews whoare neither traders nor afraid of hard work. The Society of Jews will be in aposition to prepare scientifically accurate statistics of our manpower. The newtasks and prospects that await our people in the new country will satisfy ourpresent craftsmen and transform many of those who are now small tradesmen intomanual workers.

A peddlerwho travels about the country with a heavy pack on his back does not feel ashappy as his persecutors imagine. The seven-hour day can convert all thesepeople into workmen. They are good, misunderstood people, who may now besuffering more than anyone else. The Society of Jews will, incidentally,concern itself from the outset with their training as artisans. Their profitmotive will have to be stimulated in a wholesale manner. Jews are thrifty,resourceful, and imbued with a strong sense of family. Such men are suited forany gainful employment, and merely making small trading unremunerative will besufficient to cause even those now active as peddlers to give up thisoccupation. This could be brought about, for example, by encouraging largedepartment stores which carry all conceivable items. Even now such stores crushsmall trading in the large cities; in a new civilization they would prevent itfrom arising altogether. The establishment of these stores would have thefurther advantage of making the country immediately habitable even for peopleaccustomed to a higher standard of living.

LITTLEHABITS

Is areference, even a passing one, to the little habits and conveniences of thecommon man in keeping with the serious nature of this pamphlet?

I believeit is. In fact, it is very important. For these little habits are like athousand fine threads; each of them is thin and fragile, but together they makeup an unbreakable cable.

Here, too,narrow preoccupations must be swept away. Whoever has seen anything of theworld knows that precisely these small everyday habits can even now be easilytransplanted everywhere. Indeed, the technical achievements of our time, whichthis plan would like to employ in the service of humanity, have heretofore beenused chiefly for those little habits. There are English hotels in Egypt and onthe mountain peaks of Switzerland, Viennese cafes in South Africa, French theatersin Russia, German opera houses in America, and the best Bavarian beer in Paris.

When wejourney out of Mitzraim [Egypt] again, we shall not leave the fleshpotsbehind.

Everyonecan and will find his little habits again in the Local Groups, but they will bebetter, finer, and more pleasant.

V.Society of Jews and Jewish State

NEGOTIORUM GESTIO

Thispamphlet is not intended for legal specialists. I can therefore touch onlycursorily, as on so many other things, upon my theory of the legal basis of astate.

Nevertheless,I must put some stress on my new theory which will probably hold up even in adiscussion among legal scholars.

Accordingto Rousseau's now antiquated view, a state is based on a social contract.Rousseau wrote: "The conditions of this contract are so precisely definedby the nature of the agreement that the slightest alteration would make themnull and void. The consequence is that even where they are not expresslystated they are everywhere identical and everywhere tacitly accepted and recognized…”

A logicaland historical refutation of Rousseau's theory has never been difficult,however frightful and fruitful the effects of that theory may have been. Thequestion whether a social contract with "conditions not expressly stated,yet unalterable" existed before the framing of a constitution is of nopractical interest to modern constitutional states. In any case, the legalrelationship between government and citizen is now clearly established.

But priorto the framing of a constitution, and during the creation of a new state, theseprinciples are of practical importance also. We know and see for ourselves thatnew states can still come into being. Colonies secede from the mother country;vassals break away from their suzerain; newly opened territories areimmediately established as free states. The Jewish State, to be sure, isenvisaged as a very special new formation on an as yet undetermined territory.But a state is formed not by an area of land, but by a number of men unitedunder one sovereignty.

The peopleis the subjective, the land is the objective basis of a state, and of these twothe subjective basis is the more important. There is, for example, onesovereignty without any objective basis which is, in fact, the most respectedon earth: the sovereignty of the Pope.

The theoryof rationality is one currently accepted in political science. This theorysuffices to justify the creation of a state and, unlike the contract theory, itcannot be historically refuted. Insofar as this pamphlet is concerned with thecreation of the Jewish State, it is based entirely on the theory ofrationality. However, this theory evades the legal basis of the state. Thetheories of a divine institution, or of superior power, or of a contract, thepatriarchal and patrimonial theories are not in accordance with modern views.The legal basis of a state is sought either too much within men (patriarchaltheory, theories of higher power and contract), in a pure realm above them(divine institution), or below them (objective patrimonial theory). The theoryof rationality leaves this question conveniently or cautiously unanswered. Yeta question which has so seriously occupied the greatest philosophers of law inevery age cannot be an absolutely idle one. As a matter of fact, in a state wefind a mixture of human and superhuman elements. Some legal basis isindispensable for dealing with the oppressive relationship in which subjectsoccasionally stand to rulers. I believe it is to be found in the negotiorumgestio) with the body of citizens constituting the dominus negotiorum andthe government representing the gestor.

Thewonderful legal sense of the Romans produced a noble masterpiece in the negotiorumgestio. When the property of an incapacitated person is in danger, anyonemay step forward and save it. This man is the gestor, the director ofsomeone else's affairs. He has received no warrant-that is, no human warrant.His warrant derives from a higher necessity. For the purposes of the state thishigher necessity may be formulated in different ways, and its formulation mayalso differ in accordance with the intellectual capacity found at differentlevels of culture. The aim of the gestio is the welfare of the dominus)the people, of whom the gestor himself is one.

The gestoradministers a property of which he is a co-owner. His part ownershipacquaints him with the emergency situation which demands his intervention, hisleadership in war and peace; but his co-ownership certainly does not mean thathe delegates any valid authority to himself. Even under the most favorablecircumstances he can only presume the consent of the innumerable other partowners.

A statecomes into being through a nation's struggle for existence. In such a struggleit is impossible to obtain the proper authority in any formal way. Indeed, anyundertaking for the common weal would be wrecked at the outset if one firstattempted to obtain a regular majority decision. Partisanship within wouldrender the people defenseless against the danger from without. All heads cannotbe put under the same hat, as the German saying goes. That is why the gestorsimply puts on the hat and leads the way.

Action bythe gestor of the state is sufficiently warranted if the common cause isin danger and the dominus is prevented from helping itself-by lack ofwill or some other reason.

Butthrough his intervention the gestor becomes liable to the dominus ina manner similar to a contractual obligation-quasi ex contractu. This isthe legal relationship existing before, or, more correctly, createdsimultaneously with, the state.

The gestorthen becomes liable for every form of negligence, including thenon-completion of assignments undertaken, the neglect of such affairs as areintimately connected with them, etc. I shall not enlarge on the negotiorumgestio here nor apply the concept to the state; this would take us too farfrom the actual subject. Let me make just one more point: "Businesstransactions, if approved by the owner, are just as effective as if originallycarried on by his order."

And whatdoes all this mean to us?

At presentthe Jewish people is prevented by the Diaspora from conducting its ownpolitical affairs. Yet it is in a condition of more or less severe distress ina number of places. It needs, above all things, a gestor.

This gestor,to be sure, cannot be one individual. Such a one would seem eitherridiculous or, because he would appear to be out for his own advantage,contemptible.

The gestorof the Jews must be a "moral person" in every sense of the word.

And thatis the Society of Jews.

THE GESTOR OF THE JEWS

This organof the National Movement, whose nature and functions we are only nowdiscussing, will actually come into being before anything else. Its formationis extremely simple. This "moral person" will arise out of the circleof valiant English Jews whom I informed about my plan in London. [Herzl hererefers to his visit to London which took place in the second half of November1895, during which he was received with sympathy and was promised support byseveral leading British Jews. Cf. The Complete Diaries of Theodor Herzl, NewYork, 1960, Vol.1, pp.276-84.]

TheSociety of Jews will be the center of the incipient Jewish movement.

TheSociety will have scientific and political tasks. The founding of the JewishState, as I envisage it, presupposes modern, scientific methods. If we journeyout of Egypt today, this cannot be done in the simple fashion of ancient times.We shall first obtain an idea of our numbers and our strength in a differentway. The Society of Jews is the new Moses of the Jews. The undertaking of thatold, great gestor of the Jews in primitive times is to ours as somebeautiful old Singspiel is to a modern opera. We shall play the samemelody with many, many more violins, flutes, harps, violincellos, and strongbasses, with electric lights, scenery, choruses, magnificent costumes, and starsingers.

Thispamphlet is intended to initiate a general discussion of the Jewish Question.Friend and foe will take part in it, but no longer, I hope, in the form ofsentimental defense and vulgar invective. Let the debate be objective, grand,serious, and political.

TheSociety of Jews will collect all pronouncements of statesmen, parliaments,Jewish communities, and organizations which are made oraor in writing, atmeetings or in news-papers and books.

Thus theSociety will learn and determine for the first time whether the time has comewhen the Jews want to, or have to, migrate to the Promised Land. Fr9m Jewishcommunities all over the world the Society will receive the materials for acomLrehensive collection of Jewish statistics.

Subsequenttasks, such as expert investigation of the new country and its naturalresources, the uniform plan for the migration and the settlement, preliminarywork on legislation and administration, etc. will be developed logically inline with the objective.

Externally,the Society, as I have already explained in the general section, must attemptto be recognized as a state-forming power. From the free assent of many Jews itcan derive the authority required to deal with the governments concerned.

Internally- that is to say, in its relations with the Jewish people - the Society willcreate the institutions that are indispensable in the early period - the germcell, to use a scientific term, from which the public institutions of theJewish State are to develop later.

Our firstobject is, as has already been stated, sovereignty assured by international lawover an area that is adequate for our rightful needs.

What mustbe done next?

THE OCCUPATION OF THE LAND

Whenpeoples migrated in ancient times, they let themselves be carried along,pulled, tossed about by historical chance. Like swarms of locusts they alightedwherever their random course took them. For in ancient times the globe was notknown to man.

The newmigration of the Jews must proceed in accordance with scientific principles.

Asrecently as some forty years ago, gold mining was carried on in a curiouslynaive manner. How adventurous things were in California! There a rumor madedesperadoes come running from all over the world; they looted the earth, stolethe gold from one another, and then gambled it away in an equally predatoryfashion.

But today!Take a look at gold mining in the present-day Transvaal. Gold mining is nolonger run by romantic rogues, but by sober-minded geologists and engineers.Ingenious machines separate the gold from the auriferous rock. Little is leftto chance.

And so thenew Jewish land must be explored and taken possession of with all modern aids.

As soon aswe have secured the land, a ship will sail to take possession of it.

This shipwill carry representatives of the Society, the Company, and the Local Groups.

Thesepioneers will have three tasks: first, the exact scientific investigation ofall natural properties of the land; second, the establishment of a tightlycentralized administration; third, the distribution of land. These taskscomplement one another and are to be carried out in accordance with theobjective which is by now sufficiently familiar.

Only onething remains to be clarified-namely, how the occupation of the land by LocalGroups should proceed.

In Americathe occupation of a newly opened territory still takes place in a rather naivemanner. The settlers gather at the border and at the appointed hour make asimultaneous and violent dash for it.

It cannotbe done that way in the new land of the Jews. Plots in the provinces and townswill be auctioned off-not for money, but for achievements. It will have beenestablished according to the general plan which roads, bridges, dams, etc. arenecessary for traffic. These will be grouped according to provinces. Withineach province the sites for towns will be auctioned off in a similar manner.The Local Groups will assume the responsibility of carrying this out in anorderly fashion, and they will defray the costs from local assessments. Afterall, the Society will be in a position to know in advance whether or not theLocal Groups are undertaking too great a sacrifice. The big communities willget a lot of elbow-room for their activities. Greater sacrifices will berewarded by certain concessions: Universities, technical schools, academies,research institutes, etc. and those government institutions which do not haveto be located in the capital will be dispersed throughout the country.

The properexecution of what is undertaken will be guaranteed by the personal interest ofthe buyers and, if need be, by local assessments. For just as we cannot, and donot wish to, abolish differences among individuals, differences among the LocalGroups will continue. Everything will fall into place in a natural way. Allacquired rights will be protected, every new development will get sufficientscope.

Our peoplewill be fully informed of all these matters.

Just as wewill not take others by surprise or cheat them, we shall not deceive ourselveseither.

Everythingwill be systematically worked out in advance. In the elaboration of this plan,which I am capable only of suggesting, our keenest minds will participate.Every achievement in the fields of social science and technology of our own ageand of the even more advanced age which will dawn over the protracted executionof the plan must be utilized for the cause. Every happy invention which is alreadyavailable or will become available must be used. Thus the land can be occupiedand the State founded in a manner as yet unknown to history, with unprecedentedchances of success.

CONSTITUTION

One of thegreat commissions to be appointed by the Society will be the council of statejurists. This body will have to create as good a modern constitution as can bedevised. I believe that a good constitution ought to be moderately flexible. Inanother work I have stated what forms of government I hold to be the best[Herzl here refers to his book Das Palais Bourbon: Bilder aus dernfranzosischen Parlamentsleben (The Palais Bourbon: Pictures from FrenchParliamentary Life), which was published in 1895 in Leipzig, and in which heclearly expressed his preference for an aristocratic form of government.]. Iconsider a democratic monarchy and an aristocratic republic to be the finestforms of state. The form of a state and the principles of its government mustbe in an opposition which provides a balance. I am a staunch advocate ofmonarchic institutions, because they make possible a stable policy andrepresent the interests of a historically illustrious family, one born andeducated to rule-interests that are bound up with the preservation of thestate. But our history has been too long interrupted for us to attempt toresume this institution. The very attempt would bring upon us the curse ofridicule.

Democracywithout the salutary counterpoise of a monarch is extreme in its approval anddisapproval, tends to idle parliamentary babble, and produces that repulsiveclass of men, the professional politicians. Nor are the present-day nationssuited to unlimited democracy, and I believe they will become ever less fit forit. For pure democracy presupposes a very simple morality, and our morality isbecoming ever more complex with the advance of commerce and civilization."Le ressort d'une democratie est la vertu" [The concern of ademocracy is virtue], said wise Montesquieu. And where will you find thisvirtue-political virtue, I mean? I have no faith in the political virtue of ourpeople, because we are no different from the rest of modern men and becausefreedom would at first make our heads swell. I consider government byreferendum inadequate, for in politics there are no simple questions which canbe answered merely by Yes or No. Also, the masses are more prone even thanparliaments to be misled by fantastic ideas and to lend a willing ear to everyranting demagogue. Neither internal nor external policy can be formulated inpopular assembly.

Politicsmust work from the top down. This does not mean that anyone will be put inbondage in the Jewish State, for every Jew will be able to rise, and everyonewill want to. Thus a powerful upward surge is bound to move through our people.Every individual will think he is only raising himself, and yet the entirecommunity will be raised thereby. This rise must be cast in moral forms whichwill be beneficial to the State and will serve theNational Idea.

ThereforeI am thinking of an aristocratic republic. This is also in keeping with theambitious spirit of our people which has now degenerated into fatuous vanity.Many of the institutions of Venice come to mind; but all that caused the ruinof that city must be avoided. We shall learn from the historical mistakes ofothers, just as we shall learn from our own. For we are a modern nation andwish to become the most modern. Our people, to whom the Society is presentingthe new country, will also gratefully accept the new Constitution given by theSociety. But wherever resistance may appear, the Society will break it. Itcannot permit its work to be disturbed by obtuse or malicious individuals.

LANGUAGE

Someonemay think that difficulties will arise from the fact that we no longer have acommon language. After all, we cannot converse with one another in Hebrew. Whoamong us knows enough Hebrew to ask for a railroad ticket in that language? Wehave no such people. Yet it is really a very simple matter. Everyone willretain his own language, the beloved homeland of his thoughts. Switzerlandoffers conclusive proof that linguistic federalism is possible. Even on theother side we shall remain what we are now, just as we shall never cease tolove nostalgic ally the native lands which we were forced to leave.

We shallgive up the stunted, broken-down jargons, those ghetto languages which we nowemploy. They were the stealthy tongues of prisoners. Our educators will givedue attention to this matter. The language which proves to be of the greatest utilityfor general intercourse will establish itself naturally as our principaltongue. Our peoplehood is indeed peculiar and unique. Actually, the faith ofour fathers is the only thing by which we still recognize that we belongtogether.

THEOCRACY

Shall we,then, end up by having a theocracy? No! Faith unites us, knowledge makes usfree. Therefore we shall permit no theocratic velleities on the part of ourclergy to arise. We shall know how to restrict them to their temples, just aswe shall restrict our professional soldiers to their barracks. The army and theclergy shall be honored to the extent that their noble functions require anddeserve it. But they will have no privileged voice in the State which confersdistinction upon them, for otherwise they might cause trouble externally andinternally.

Every manwill be as free and as unrestricted in his belief or unbelief as he is in hisnationality. And should it happen that men of other creeds and othernationalities come to live among us, we shall accord them honorable protectionand equality before the law. We have learned tolerance in Europe. I am notsaying this sarcastically. Present-day anti-Semitism can only in a very fewplaces be taken for the old religious intolerance. For the most part it is a movementamong civilized nations whereby they try to exorcise a ghost from out of theirown past.

LAWS

When theidea of a State approaches realization, the Society of Jews will have a councilof jurists do preliminary work on legislation. During the transition period theunderlying principle can be that every immigrant Jew is to be judged accordingto the laws of the country which he has left. Legal uniformity should bestriven for as soon as possible. The laws must be modern, and here too only thebest should be employed. Ours might become a model code, permeated by all thejust social demands of the day.

THE ARMY

The JewishState is envisaged as a neutral country. It will require only a professionalarmy - albeit one equipped with every implement of modern warfare - to preserveorder externally as well as internally.

THE FLAG

We have noflag. We need one. Anyone who wants to lead many men must raise a symbol overtheir heads.

I amthinking of a white flag with seven gold stars. The white field signifies our new,pure life; the stars are the seven golden hours of our working day. For theJews will move to the new land under the banner of labor.

RECIPROCITY AND EXTRADITION TREATIES

The newJewish State must be founded in a respectable manner. After all, we are mindfulof our future honor in the eyes of the world.

For thatreason all obligations in our old places of residence must be scrupulouslyfulfilled. The Society of Jews and the Jewish Company will grant cheap passageand all settlement benefits only to those who produce an official certificatefrom the local authorities saying "Affairs left in good order."

Everyprivate claim originating in the abandoned countries will be heard more readilyin the Jewish State than anywhere else. We shall not even wait for reciprocity,but shall act purely for the sake of our honor. Thus our own claims will laterget more consideration from courts of law than may now be the case in someplaces.

From theforegoing remarks it is self-evident that we shall extradite Jewish criminalsmore readily than any other state, until such time as we can enforce our penalcode in accordance with the same principles as all other civilized nations.Thus a period of transition is envisaged during which we shall receive Jewishcriminals after they have taken their punishment. But once they have paid allpenalties, they will be accepted without restrictions; the criminals among ourpeople shall start a new life, too.

Thusemigration may become for many Jews a crisis with a happy outcome. The bad externalcircumstances which have ruined many a character will be removed, and it willbe possible to save many who are lost.

Here Ishould like briefly to relate a story which I came across in an account of thegold mines of Witwatersrand. A man came to the Rand one day, settled down,tried several things, not including gold mining, finally started an ice factorywhich prospered, and soon won universal esteem. Years later he was suddenlyarrested. He had perpetrated fraud as a banker in Frankfurt, then had escapedand started a new life under an assumed name. But when he was taken away as aprisoner, the most respected people turned up at the station and bade him acordial "Farewell-until we meet again!" For he was going toreturn.

How muchthis story tells! A new life can regenerate even criminals. And we have aproportionately very small number of these. Compare on this point aninteresting statistical study, Die Kriminalitat der Juden in Deutschland [TheCriminality of Jews in Germany] by Dr. P. Nathan (Berlin), [Paul Nathan(1857.1927) was a German-Jewish politician, writer and editor, who authorednumerous books on Jewish problems. His book, Die Krimina1itat der Judenin Deutschland, was published in 1896. He was aco-founder of the Hilfsverein der deutschen Juden, and an untiringfighter against anti-Semitism.] commissioned by the Committee for DefenseAgainst Anti-Semitic Attacks and based on official reports. To be sure, likemany another "defense" this pamphlet, which teems with figures,proceeds from the erroneous assumption that anti-Semitism can be refuted byrational arguments. We are presumably as much hated for our merits as for ourfaults.

BENEFITS OF THE JEWISH EMIGRATION

I imaginethat governments will pay some attention to this plan, either voluntarily orunder pressure from their anti-Semitic citizens, and it may even be that hereand there the plan will be received with a sympathy which will also be accordedto the Society of Jews.

For theJewish emigration that I have in mind cannot create any economic upheavals.Instead, such crises are as bound to arise everywhere in the wake ofJew-baiting would be prevented by the realization of this plan. A great periodof prosperity would begin in those countries which are now anti-Semitic. For,as I have repeatedly stated, there will be an internal migration of Gentilecitizens into the positions slowly and systematically evacuated by the Jews. Ifwe are not merely suffered, but actually assisted, to do this, the movementwill have a fructifying effect everywhere. Another narrow view which must beabandoned is that the departure of many Jews is bound to bring about theimpoverishment of the countries involved. It is different from a departureresulting from Jew-baiting; then, to be sure, property is destroyed, as it isin the confusion of a war. Quite another thing is the peaceful, voluntarydeparture of colonists, when everything can be done with due consideration foracquired rights and in absolute conformity with the law, freely and openly, bythe light of day, in full view of the authorities and under the supervision ofpublic opinion. The emigration of Gentile proletarians to other parts of theworld would be brought to a standstill by the Jewish movement.

The stateswould have the further benefit of a tremendous increase in their export trade;for since the emigrant Jews on the other side would be dependent on Europeanproducts for a long time to come, they would necessarily have to import them.The Local Groups would create an equitable adjustment; the customary needswould have to be met by the customary sources for a long time yet.

One of thegreatest benefits would probably be the easing of the social question. Socialdiscontent might be put at rest for some time - perhaps for twenty years,possibly even longer, but certainly throughout the entire period of the Jewishmigration.

The shapewhich the social question may take depends only on the development of ourtechnical resources. Steam power has concentrated men around machines infactories where they are squeezed together and make one another miserable.Production is enormous, indiscriminate, unplanned, and every moment this bringsabout serious crises which ruin the workers along with the management. Steamhas crowded men together; the utilization of electricity will presumablydisperse them again and may improve the conditions under which they work. Inany case, the technical inventors, those true benefactors of mankind, willcontinue their labors after the migration of the Jews starts and hopefully willinvent such wonderful things as before - no, ever more wonderful ones.

The word"impossible" already seems to have disappeared from the language oftechnology. If a man who lived in the last century returned to earth, he wouldfind our whole life full of incomprehensible magic. Wherever we modern menappear with our contrivances, we transform the desert into a garden. To build acity it now takes us as many years as it required centuries at an earlier stageof history; America offers countless examples of this. The obstacle of distancehas been overcome. The storehouse of the modern spirit already containsimmeasurable riches. Every day this wealth increases; a hundred thousand mindsthink and search at every point of the globe, and what one discovers belongs tothe whole world the next moment.

In theJewish Land, we ourselves should like to make use of all new experiments inpioneer fashion.

Just as weshall institute the seven-hour day as an experiment for the good of humanity,we will lead the way in all humanitarian activities and build the new land as aland of experiment and a model country.

After thedeparture of the Jews, the enterprises which they have created will remainwhere they are. Nor will the Jewish spirit of enterprise be lacking wherever itis welcome. Jewish investors will continue to invest their liquid funds wherethey are familiar with local conditions. And whereas Jewish capital, because ofpersecution, is now sent abroad to be invested in the remotest of ventures, ourpeaceful solution will make it return and contribute to the further prosperityof the countries in which Jews used to live.

VI. CONCLUSION

How muchremains to be discussed, how many defects, harmful superficialities, anduseless repetitions there still are in this pamphlet which I have so longconsidered and so frequently revised!

Afair-minded reader, one who also has enough insight to grasp the spirit of mywords, will not be repelled by these defects. He will, instead, be stimulatedto bring his sagacity and his energy to bear on a project which is not oneman's alone, and to improve it.

Have Iexplained obvious things and overlooked important reservations?

I havetried to refute some objections; I know that there will be others, many ofthem, both high-minded and base ones.

One of thehigh-minded objections is that the distress of the Jews is not the only problemin the world. But I think that despite this we ought to start removing a littlemisery, be it only our own for the time being.

It mightfurther be said that we should not create new distinctions between people, thatwe ought not to raise fresh barriers but make the old ones disappear instead. Isay that those who think along these lines are lovable romantics; but the ideaof a fatherland will go on flourishing long after the dust of their bones willhave been blown away without a trace. Universal brotherhood is not even abeautiful dream. Conflict is needed for the utmost exertion of a man'spersonality.

But howwill this work? The Jews would probably have no more enemies in their ownState, and since prosperity would weaken them and make them decline, would thisnot spell the final doom of the Jewish people? I believe that the Jews, likeevery other nation, will always have enough enemies. But once they are settledon their own soil, they can never again be scattered all over the world. TheDiaspora cannot be revived unless all of civilization collapses, and only asimpleton can fear that. Our present-day civilization has expedients enough todefend itself.

The baseobjections are innumerable, just as there are more ignoble people than nobleones. I have tried to knock out some of the narrow-minded notions. Anyone whowishes to rally behind the white flag with the seven stars must assist in thiscampaign of enlightenment. Perhaps it will be necessary first to do battle withcertain evil, narrow-minded, short-sighted Jews.

Will it besaid that I am supplying the anti-Semites with ammunition? How so? Because Iadmit the truth? Because I do not maintain that there are none but excellentmen among us?

Will it besaid that I am pointing out a way in which we could be harmed? This I deny mostcategorically. What I am proposing can be carried out only with the freeconsent of a majority of Jews. It can be done against the will of someindividuals, even despite the opposition of groups of Jews who today are mostpowerful, but never, absolutely never, can a state act against all the Jews.The Jews' equal rights before the law cannot be rescinded once they have been granted,for the very first attempts would immediately drive all Jews, rich and pooralike, into the ranks of the revolutionary parties. The very beginnings ofofficial injustice toward the Jews invariably produce economic crises. Thusthere is really very little that can effectively be done against us, unlesspeople are prepared to hurt themselves. Yet hatred grows and grows. The rich donot feel it much. But our poor! Just ask our poor, who have been moredreadfully proletarianized since the resurgence of anti-Semitism than everbefore.

Will someof our well-to-do say that the pressure is not yet great enough to justifyemigration, and that even the forcible expulsions of Jews have shown howreluctant our people are to depart? True, because they do not know where to go!Because they only pass from one misery to another. But we shall show them theway to the Promised Land. And the wonderful force of enthusiasm will have towrestle with the terrible force of habit.

Persecutionsare no longer as vicious as they were in the Middle Ages? True, but oursensitivity has increased, so that we feel no diminution in our suffering.Prolonged persecution has overstrained our nerves.

And willsome people say that the venture is hopeless, because even if we obtain theland and the sovereignty only the poor people will go along? They are the veryones we need first! Only desperate men make good conquerors.

Willanybody say, Oh yes, if it were possible it would have been done by now?

It was notpossible before. It is possible now. As recently as a hundred, even fifty yearsago it would have been a dream. Today it is all real. The rich, who have anepicurean acquaintance with all technical advances, know very well what can bedone with money. And this is how it will be: Precisely the poor and plainpeople, who have no idea of the power that man already exercises over theforces of Nature, will have the greatest faith in the new message. For theyhave never lost their hope of the Promised Land.

Here itis, Jews! No fairy tale, no deception! Everyone may convince himself of it, forevery man will carry over with him a little piece of the Promised Land: one inhis brain, another in his brawn, a third in the possessions he has acquired.

Now, allthis may seem to be a long-drawn-out affair. Even in the most favorablecircumstances it might be many years before the founding of the State is underway. In the meantime, Jews will be ridiculed, offended, abused, whipped,plundered, and slain in a thousand different localities. But no; just as soonas we begin to implement the plan, anti-Semitism will immediately grind to ahalt everywhere. For it is the conclusion of peace. When the Jewish Company hasbeen formed, this news will be carried in a single day to the remotest ends ofthe earth with the lightning speed of our telegraph wires.

And reliefwill ensue instantly. The average minds which we overproduce in our middleclasses will find an outlet in our organizations as our first technicians,officers, professors, officials, jurists, physicians. And so the movement willcontinue, rapidly but yet without any upheaval.

Prayerswill be offered up in the temples for the success of our undertaking. But inthe churches as well! It will relieve an old pressure, one under which all havesuffered.

But firstthere must be light in men’s minds. The idea must spread to the remotestmiserable hamlets where our people live. They will awaken from their torpor.For all our lives will have a new substance. Everyone need think only ofhimself for the movement to become a tremendous one.

And whatglory awaits the selfless fighters for the cause!

That iswhy I believe that a wonderful breed of Jews will spring up from the earth. TheMaccabees will rise again.

Let merepeat my opening words once more: The Jews who want a State of their own willhave one.

We are tolive at last as free men on our own soil and die peacefully in our ownhomeland.

The worldwill be freed by our freedom, enriched by our riches, and made greater by ourgreatness.

Andwhatever we attempt there only for our own welfare will spread and redoundmightily and blessedly to the good of all mankind.